


Love & War

by captainmitang



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Minayeon, an assassin/spy au, angsty, but mina still can’t stop staring at her lips, enemies to lovers-ish, nayeon is a cocky assassin that annoys mina to no end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 14:57:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 32,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20707904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainmitang/pseuds/captainmitang
Summary: In a world of underground factions and assassins, no one is supposed to be trusted. But after a simple assassination mission goes horribly wrong, Nayeon and Mina are forced to work together in order to survive.





	1. Lover

Nayeon never saw the girl’s face. That was part of the job—to keep a mask on at all times. The initiates were supposed to remain anonymous and their identities a secret. It was easier that way. Less messy. Bonds and attachments were avoided due to the nature of their work.

The work was ugly. Wearing her mask helped Nayeon to forget—to separate herself from any remnants of guilt or horror she may have when she took out the assigned target. Wearing these masks, the initiates weren’t human. They were something stronger. Something colder. This was the way of the Organization.

Initiates rarely were ever assigned to work with the same partners twice. In fact, it was all but unheard of, considering how hard the Organization worked to keep anonymity and discretion. Besides, initiates often died on the job and so fresh recruits had to be brought in practically every other week to fill in the ranks.

But on the third Tuesday in November, Nayeon recognized the voice of the girl she was paired with for the mission of taking out a newly elected official. There was no mistaking it—nor was there any mistaking the way she moved—fluidly and gracefully. Yes, Nayeon had worked with this girl once before. She wondered if the girl recognized her too. It didn’t matter though, a mission was a mission. They were given the details, the entry points, the weapons they’d be using, and that was it. It was a sniping mission. They were to line up a shot into the official’s apartment building from a building across the street. It was easy.

This girl was a sharp shooter. While every initiate was trained in a wide variety of skills, they each had their specialties. When the girl reached the meeting coordinates in the basement of the building with a sniping rifle strapped to her back, Nayeon had raised her eyebrows. “You’re a good shot, huh?” Nayeon asked. She was supposed to speak as little as possible with her partner, as per Organization rules of conduct, but Nayeon had been a member for so long that she tended to ignore the rules.

“Yes.” Her partner was blunt and straight to the point. Nayeon could respect that. She was behaving like any proper assassin should.

“Hm,” Nayeon hummed. The last mission, Nayeon had observed this girl was good with hacking security systems. She was skilled across multiple fields, which probably explained why the girl was still alive since the last time Nayeon had been paired with her.

“Does that surprise you?” Nayeon’s partner asked.

“Last time we worked together you highlighted a different skill set.”

There. Nayeon had laid the cards down. She made it known that she’d worked with this girl before. The girl didn’t seem bothered by that, so she must’ve recognized Nayeon as well. “And what are you good at?” The girl avoided Nayeon’s observation altogether, firing another question back.

“They say I’m well rounded,” Nayeon chided, with a bit of a smirk on her face. Of course, under the mask she was wearing, her partner couldn’t see it.

It was true, Nayeon excelled in practically everything. She’d been in the Organization for so long that she’d picked up many different skills along the way.

They made it to the 12th floor of the building, an empty and abandoned floor that made Nayeon feel slightly uneasy. She had scouted the place and not seen any signs of life but it still gave her the creeps. Her task today was to protect her partner. More specifically, to make sure nothing interfered with the girl taking down their target. For now they just needed to wait until the official was lined up in the right place, which could take awhile.

“Everything look good?” Nayeon asked after the girl had finally stopped tinkering around with the rifle. She had it propped up on some old crates.

“Affirmative,” the girl confirmed.

“And now we wait.”

The silence was a bit pressing. Nayeon felt the urge to ask this girl questions, but she knew that was foolish. Small talk was stupid when she’d probably never see this girl again, whether Nayeon was killed first or she was. And yet, if they’d both made it this far…maybe there was hope they’d see eachother again after this after all.

Nayeon paced the room, checking the staircase multiple times. It was almost too quiet.

The girl, eye pressed against the sight of her snipping rifle, took the shot. Nayeon didn’t have to even look to tell her partner was successful. Just as the rifle was being taken down from its stand, there was a sound coming from a lower level of the building. The two girls looked at each other for a minute. “I’ll go check it—” Nayeon began to say, before the door to the room from the stairs burst open, and suddenly five men, also dressed in the signature masks of the Organization, barged in.

“Christ,” Nayeon murmured, drawing her own pistol in an instant. These men were quicker though, already having their guns pointed at Nayeon and her partner. They were surrounded.

“Lower your weapon,” one of the men commanded. “Drop the rifle too.” The girls did as they were told.

“Someone sold us out, huh?” Nayeon said. “You’ve infiltrated our ranks like rats. Are you working for Omega or the Defiant?” There were three warring factions which dealt with underground and scandalous affairs. The rich and powerful hired people to get their hands dirty for them and often they got in each other’s way. The Organization just happened to be the most powerful and influential of the three factions. Omega and the Defiant were often working to take the Organization down in any way they could, but cut off one head of a hydra and two more would grow back in its place.

“Neither,” one of the men sneered. He was about three heads taller than either Nayeon or her partner. “Im Nayeon, Myoui Mina, your usefulness for the Organization has expired.”

Myoui Mina. So that was her partner’s name, huh?

“Oh really? That’s a shame,” Nayeon replied. She knew this day was coming. It was inevitable. The Organization was notorious for disposing of anyone in their own ranks who knew too much, so long as they served their purpose. She just hadn’t expected it to be here and now though, that much she’d admit. “I’m irreplaceable, you know.”

One of the men barked out an ugly laugh. “You’ve got on a mouth on you. I’ll enjoy shutting you up.”

“Take it easy fellas, you got us outmanned and outgunned. We’re not fighting our way out of this.” Nayeon’s voice was steady and not phased at all. This wasn’t the first time she had multiple guns aimed at her head.

_Like hell we’re not._

Slowly the two girls moved forward, closer to the mob of men. Closer, closer. Their hands were up over their heads in a show of innocence.

_Now!_

Nayeon kicked the man closest to her where she’d knew it would hurt the most, just as her partner, Mina, smacked a gun away just before it fired in Nayeon’s direction. The girl really was good.

Elbows connected with faces, feet with shins, the metal of the barrel of a pistol against jaws and backs of heads. Nayeon and Mina moved like lightning. The men didn’t stand a chance.

One man fired a round at Mina. The bullet nicked the girl in the shoulder and she grunted in pain but managed to stay on her feet. However, the same man managed to take Mina by both shoulders and punched her in the face, hard. As Nayeon collected a gun off one of the now unconscious men at her feet, she turned to see the mask Mina was wearing fall off of her face.

Maybe it was the adrenaline, or maybe it was just Nayeon’s heightened perception, but the mask seemed to fall to the ground in slow-motion. As the mask was suspended in mid-air, Nayeon’s eyes immediately traveled to Mina’s face, exposed and out in the open for everyone to see.

Nayeon was taken aback, finally seeing the face of someone who worked at the Organization with her. She hadn’t seen an Organization member’s face since the beginning of her induction nearly 3 years ago. It wasn’t what she expected at all.

Myoui Mina…

She was really…pretty.

Mina looked too delicate to be in this kind of work. There was something elegant about her features—something that said rich girl who can play five different instruments...not assassin. Her dark brown hair, nearly black, was tied back in a low ponytail. Though her face looked innocent, her eyes looked cold—slightly annoyed, even.

“A little help here?” Mina cried out as the one man left standing threw another punch at her, causing her to stagger back. She wiped a hand over her lower lip which was now bleeding from the punch.

Nayeon shot the man point blank in the head, causing his body to collapse to the floor with a loud thud. Blood splattered across Mina’s black jumpsuit and her newly exposed face. The girl exhaled loudly, blinking a few times, before she wiped the blood out of her eyes with the back of her hand and smeared it across her face in the process. After a beat, Mina looked up at Nayeon with an unreadable expression on her face.

Seeming to finally realize her mask was off, Mina bent over and quickly grabbed her mask off the floor. In an instant it covered her face once again.

“Too late sweetheart, I know what you look like now. You know, there’s not really any point in wearing these masks anymore, is there?” Nayeon reached behind her neck, unfastened her own mask, and let the thing fall to the floor. This time it was Mina’s turn to stare at her.

“I saw yours, now you get to see mine. Let’s call it even,” Nayeon jested, smiling slightly despite the fact that her employer had just sent a team of assassins to kill her.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Mina took her mask off once again. “They’ll be sending others after us. They won’t stop,” Mina replied, moving to pick up her rifle off the ground and collect the guns that each man, now either unconscious or dead, was carrying.

“Which means we need to disappear. Now.”

“We?” Mina asked, raising an eyebrow. She was already moving toward the door, ready to run.

“Well, they want us both dead, don’t they?”

Mina clicked her tongue and studied Nayeon carefully, shrugging the rifle over her shoulder. “I don’t work well with others.”

“Well, neither do I, so we have that in common.” Nayeon crossed her arms and glared back at Mina. “Look, we’re as good as dead if we try to run from them on our own. We have a better chance of survival by working together. Granted it’s still not the best odds, but if you’ve been with the Organization for awhile you’re clearly a good ally to have in this situation.”

Mina sighed. “Alright. I know a place we can go—a safe house where I have the necessary paperwork to get out of the country. That’s as far as I’ll go with you, though.”

“Suit yourself,” Nayeon shrugged. “You’d probably just slow me down anyway.” And with that, Nayeon began to walk toward the staircase, stepping over bodies to get there. Mina shook her head, mumbling to herself, before she followed behind.

Mina put on a change of clothes she’d stashed in the basement of the building and tried her best to wipe off the blood covering her body. She couldn’t walk around Seoul with blood covering her face, after all. Her bullet wound was also bleeding slightly, but luckily she’d brought a first aid kit to patch herself up and at least stop the bleeding until they reached the safe house.

“God, you’re a mess, aren’t you?” Nayeon tisked, watching the girl rub off the blood forcefully, making her face raw and red in the process.

“You’re the one who hesitated on taking the shot when you had a gun in your hand. You waited until he was right beside me to do it,” Mina hissed. “This scenario was no more difficult than a trainee level simulation. You would’ve failed the course entirely for that one mistake.”

“I got distracted,” Nayeon admitted. “It’s not every day I see a coworker’s face.”

Mina threw her bloodied jumpsuit in the corner and turned to face Nayeon. It was quite a strange sight for Nayeon to see the girl dressed in casual, civilian clothes—wearing a plain red sweatshirt and leggings. “It’s just a face,” Mina shrugged. “It’s not who I am. What matters is my skills and my training, nothing more.”

The corner of Nayeon’s mouth turned up into a small smirk. She too had stripped out of her jumpsuit and into more casual clothes that she traveled around in when she wasn’t working—a t-shirt, zip up hoodie and jeans. They could both pass for normal college students. “Maybe in the Organization, but not in the real world. You can’t wear a mask out there. You can’t hide.”

Mina placed her sniper rifle in a carrying case that appeared to be a large suitcase. “Neither can you, Im Nayeon.” With that, Mina began to walk toward the ground level side exit in which both her and Nayeon had originally entered hours ago.

They couldn’t call a cab, nor use public transportation—the Organization had eyes everywhere—so they stayed in the shadows, walking to this so-called safe house Mina knew of. Nayeon was taking quite the risk by trusting this girl. After all, the only thing Nayeon knew about this girl was that she was a highly skilled assassin named Myoui Mina, but Nayeon didn’t really have much of a choice. It was a matter of survival.

They made their way there in a thick silence, only broken when Mina informed Nayeon of a new direction to travel in.

“How long were you in the Organization?” Nayeon asked the girl, feeling that the silence was weighing down too heavily on them both.

Mina was quiet for a moment, as if debating on sharing the information. “One and a half years,” she said, finally.

“That’s it?” Nayeon’s voice raised in pitch in surprise. Here she had expected the girl was in the faction for a comparable time to her own time in the business.

Mina ignored Nayeon’s remark. “And you?” she asked.

“Five years,” Nayeon replied. “What’s a girl like you doing in this dirty business?”

“A girl like me? What’s that supposed to mean?” Mina kept her eyes trained forward, but Nayeon could tell her coworker wanted to give her a glare.

“You don’t look like a trained assassin.”

“Well, neither do you.”

Fair enough. Nayeon supposed she didn’t exactly look like the most capable trained killer either. But, looks could be deceiving. That was one thing she learned quickly in the business.

“Your hands are still soft,” Nayeon observed, looking down at Mina’s hand which was gripped around the handle of her rifle case. “Not callused or blistered. Your posture is nearly perfect. Clearly you take good care of yourself. I’d say you grew up in a wealthy family. Father’s a lawyer perhaps, or a doctor. Maybe even a politician. Why would someone with money and a pretty face, given every advantage, turn to something like this?”

Mina’s mouth was set in a hard line. Finally she said: “You think I’m pretty?” It was said in a light-hearted manner, totally avoiding all of Nayeon’s observations. Myoui Mina had a sense of humor after all.

Nayeon scoffed, opening her mouth to say something, but for once in her life, she came up short. Collecting herself, she took a breath. “So what if I do? You said that’s not who you are, right? The real you is the one in the mask, holding the gun, sniping politicians from windows. But if you’ve only been in this business for not even two years now, that means you’ve been Myoui Mina for a lot longer than you’ve been that emotionless shell of a thing.”

“You can live your entire life as a stranger,” Mina stated simply. “Life is a series of putting on masks. When I joined the Organization I just traded one mask for another.”

There should’ve been bitterness and sadness behind Mina’s words, but they were only stated with a matter-of-fact tone. It was then that Nayeon felt pity for this girl, the same pity that she once felt for herself after getting dragged into all this. Mina, it seemed, was just as messed up as she was.

They reached the safe house—which turned out to be much different than Nayeon had imagined. She had expected a warehouse, something industrial in cold. However, Myoui had prepared a fully furnished apartment that screamed lavishness. Mina casually threw her rifle case on the couch, slipping off her shoes and discarding them near the door. When she noticed Nayeon wasn’t beside her, the girl turned around to see her coworker standing near the door, looking slightly anxious.

“This place...is yours?” Nayeon asked. Her arms were crossed and her neck was pushed forward, making her look like a turtle sticking its neck out of its shell.

Mina tilted her head slightly and smiled at Nayeon’s surprised expression. “Your guesses about my background...well, they were quite accurate.”

Nayeon quickly composed herself, slipped off her shoes, and sauntered into the apartment with a smirk on her face. “I am always right.”

Mina rolled her eyes. “That’s impossible. But anyway, they’ll be combing the entire city for us, yet they won’t find us here. You can take the guest bedroom on the left. I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning on my private jet—“

“Hey!” Mina snapped. She had turned around to see Nayeon holding a very expensive paper weight in her hands.

Nayeon looked at her innocently, quickly setting the paperweight down. “Do people actually use these things, or are they just glorified decorations that only rich people can afford?”

“Can you keep your hands off everything in here? And yes, it’s just a decoration, okay?”

“I can’t promise to keep my hands off everything,” Nayeon smirked. She glanced at Mina, who rolled her eyes again.

“You’re out of here first thing in the morning,” Mina said. “Get some sleep, you’ll need it.”

Mina began to head toward her bedroom, but Nayeon was faster—grabbing Mina’s wrist and pulling her backward. Mina flinched at the touch, instantly ripping her wrist from Nayeon’s hand. They locked eyes. They were closer than they’d been all day during their mission.

“We should make the most of our last night of freedom...before we’re on the run for good,” Nayeon replied. She was looking at Mina with her head held high, as if challenging the girl in front of her.

“And how do you suggest we do that?” Mina’s voice was monotone, giving away nothing. Her eyes were as cold as the moment Nayeon first looked upon them.

“I may have some ideas.” Nayeon raised an eyebrow. “A fancy place like this, you need to have some expensive drinks around here. Hell, I’d take cheap soju right now.”

Mina was silent for a moment, regarding the cocky girl in front of her. “I’m not much of a drinker.”

Nayeon sighed. “Oh c’mon. We could die tomorrow, maybe even tonight if this safe house isn’t as safe as you think. Live a little and have a drink with me.”

Why would Mina have a drink with a complete stranger—someone she’d been forced to be paired with due to uncontrollable circumstances and nothing more? And yet, Nayeon was looking at Mina expectantly, as if she already knew what Mina was going to say.

“Alright. Yes, I have a few drinks to choose from.”

The corner of Nayeon’s mouth stretched up into a smile. “I knew it, I’m never wrong.”

“Again, that’s statistically impossible,” Mina muttered, walking away from Nayeon to find the alcohol cabinet located in the apartment’s small kitchen. She grabbed two glasses and poured Nayeon and herself a drink from a newly opened bottle, on the rocks. Walking back into the living room, Mina handed Nayeon her glass, earning a wicked grin from her guest.

“Now, let’s sit in front of this fireplace and talk.” From the way Nayeon said that, you’d think she was the owner of the apartment instead of Mina.

And so they sat and they talked. Nayeon mainly looked at the flames before her, almost hypnotized by the bluish hue the flames took in the low lighting of the room. They didn’t say much either, and it was mostly Nayeon doing the talking, but both girls were admittedly content.

“You’re the first member of the Organization whose face I’ve seen,” Nayeon said after taking a swig of her drink.

“I hope I didn’t disappoint.” There was that same, semi-playful tone Nayeon had heard earlier. The sound was almost magical.

“On the contrary. I’m intrigued by you,” Nayeon replied without taking her eyes off the flames. “I want to get to know you even though I don’t have the right to. After all, we’ll never see each other again. And yet, here we are.”

“I’ve never seen a member’s face either,” Mina admitted.

“Bet you didn’t expect to find a hot girl under my mask, did you?” Nayeon finally turned away from the fireplace so that her body was facing Mina, who was sitting in the plush chair next to her.

“Pride is not an attractive quality,” Mina said, unphased. “Nor is it a healthy one for an assassin to have.” Nayeon just laughed in response.

“You’ll find I don’t exactly fit the basic assassin model. I’ve been doing this long enough to not let myself get swallowed up by it.”

For some reason, that comment seemed to irk Mina, because the girl recrossed her legs and suddenly looked slightly annoyed. Nayeon took note, but decided to change the subject.

“I’m pretty offended they considered me useless to them now. After all, I’ve never failed a mission,” Nayeon continued, not letting the silence settle for long.

“You probably know too much.”

Nayeon cocked an eyebrow. “I heard whispers here and there. The temptation to eavesdrop is just too great. After all, knowledge is power.”

“In this job it’ll get you killed.”

“I take it you never asked any questions?” Nayeon uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, looking at Mina knowingly.

Mina took a sip of her drink. “I just did as I was told.”

“What a good little killer,” Nayeon taunted. “And why do you suppose you got axed?”

Mina’s mouth twitched slightly. She placed one hand on the armrest of her chair and began to drum her fingers against the wood of its frame. “It’s a mystery.”

Nayeon could read the girl sitting next to her like a magazine. She knew Mina knew more than she was letting on but Nayeon didn’t push the girl. Keeping secrets was part of the game, after all. Nayeon had her fair share of secrets, too.

The atmosphere in the room was heating up, or at least Nayeon thought so. It could’ve been the drink talking, making her feel worry free and happy, but Nayeon didn’t care. It’d been awhile since she let herself relax life this. She took a large gulp of her drink, finishing it up.

“What are you gonna do with yourself now, Rich Girl? Live on a private island for the rest of your life? Soak up some sun?” Nayeon closed her eyes at the thought, imagining herself in Hawaii, sitting on the beach and hearing the lapping sound of waves brushing up against the shore.

Mina swirled the drink in her left hand. “I’ve planned for this. My future is set in stone. What about you? I’m assuming you have also prepared for this possibility?”

“Of course.” Nayeon smiled at Mina, whose face remained neutral and uninterested. “I’m always prepared for anything. In this line of work, you can’t take things too personally.”

Nayeon had a gun out, pointed at Mina in an instant. She’d hidden it in the back of her jeans, waiting for this exact moment. The atmosphere in the room shifted—it was now ice cold. Mina looked down at the barrel of the gun, not phased in the slightest. “Did they send you to finish me off? Am I the last target of your mission tonight?” Nayeon’s voice was strong and commanding, showing no signs of the friendliness she’d given off moments before.

Feeling entirely calm, Mina smiled. “If you were my target, I would’ve killed you hours ago. You would have never left that building.”

Nayeon kept her gun raised levely, staring Mina down.

“For all I know, I’m actually your target,” Mina continued. “Did they tell you to take me out after it was all said and done?”

Nayeon took a breath and lowered her gun, turning on the safety and setting it on the table beside her. “I have no intention of killing you unless you shoot first.”

“Good, we’re on the same page then.” Mina raised her glass in Nayeon’s direction and then finished off her drink.

“I like you,” Nayeon confirmed. “An assassin I feel like I can actually trust.”

“Don’t make that mistake,” Mina mumbled, setting down her glass a little too loudly. “The only person you can trust in this world is yourself.”

“What a grim way of looking at things. You’re just a damaged little thing, aren’t you?” Nayeon sighed. Mina turned away from Nayeon—she didn’t like the way the other assassin was looking at her. With pity...and kindness.

“Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool,” Mina said.

“I’ll be the fool who trusts you, then,” Nayeon purred. Mina gritted her teeth. She’d done nothing to deserve this girl’s trust. And yet...and yet…

Nayeon stood up, stretching her legs. She sauntered over to Mina, who simply watched with mild interest. When Nayeon tried to sit down on her lap, clearly letting the alcohol in her system take control, it was the first time she saw Mina lose her cool. Mina looked flustered, scrambling to push the other assassin off of her.

“What are you doing?” Mina cried, struggling to hide her embarrassment.

“What I want to do,” Nayeon replied coolly. “Stop pushing me, will you?”

Mina stopped pushing the other girl, who finally landed on her lap. The position was awkward, with Nayeon’s right side facing her. “What’s the purpose of this?” Mina asked, trying her best to regain her composure.

“Does everything need a purpose? Can’t you just live a little and let life lead you instead of you leading it?” For someone slightly tipsy, it was clear Nayeon was still as sharp as ever. Mina let out a defeated breath.

Nayeon slowly reached forward and placed a hand on Mina’s face, letting her fingers trace the sharp angles of the girl’s jawbone. Mina’s eyes were wide, looking at Nayeon a bit dumbfounded. For once in her life, she truly did not know what to do.

“You don’t have a mask for this occasion, do you?” Nayeon asked. “The girl I’m seeing right now, touching right now, that’s the real Myoui Mina.”

Mina wracked her brain for something witty to fire back but she came up short. Nayeon’s closeness was driving her mad. All she could do was stare helplessly back at the girl in front of her.

Nayeon clicked her tongue, brushing a strand of Mina’s hair behind the girl’s ear. “You’re so pretty,” she said softly.

Mina looked away, unable to hold Nayeon’s intense gaze.

“I had a feeling you were beautiful before you even took your mask off. It was just something about you, the way you held yourself. That’s why I was so distracted when those thugs attacked us. Because I was right again.”

Mina resisted the urge to roll her eyes for the third time that night. In fact, she wanted to smack the smug look off of Nayeon’s face. But for some reason, she held back. It had been a mistake to have this drink after all. It was much too strong and was obviously the cause of the butterflies in her stomach.

“Well, don’t you have anything to say to me?” Nayeon asked. She looked down at Mina expectantly while putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“Ouch,” Mina muttered, jerking her shoulder back and out of Nayeon’s grasp. That’s right, Mina had a bullet wound there.

“Sorry,” Nayeon exclaimed, a bit too loudly. Suddenly her face looked full of worry. “Let me help you get that cleaned up.”

“The bullet entered and exited cleanly, it’ll heal just fine,” Mina assured. Nayeon, however, seemed adamant on helping her out. Nayeon got up off of Mina and held out a hand for her. After a moment of just staring at it, Mina took Nayeon’s outstretched hand with her good arm and let the girl pull her up off the chair. Nayeon led Mina into the bathroom of the guest bedroom, reaching around in the dark until she found the lightswitch.

“Take off your sweatshirt.”

“What?” Mina asked, crossing her arms and suddenly looking very defensive.

“So I can see your wound,” Nayeon explained. She stated it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. After noticing Mina’s hesitation, Nayeon grumbled. “C’mon, now’s not the time to be shy. I’m good at patching people up and we don’t want you to get infected.”

Mina sighed and did as she was told, wincing slightly as she raised her injured shoulder to slip the sweatshirt off. She wore a plain white cami underneath, which was slightly stained with blood that had leaked through the bandages Mina had applied to her wound earlier.

Nayeon tisked at the girl in front of her. “See, you did a crappy job patching yourself up. Do you have a first aid kit in here? This will only take a few minutes.”

Mina nodded to the cabinet beneath the sink. Nayeon looked underneath it to find a kit clearly marked. She pulled it out and placed it on the bathroom sink, opening it to find all the necessary supplies she would need. “Now just relax, this is gonna hurt a bit.” Nayeon poured some alcohol on the wound to clean it out. Mina didn’t even flinch. Wordlessly, Nayeon began to pat the wound down on both sides and clean off the dried blood.

In a few minutes, true to Nayeon’s word, the wound was patched up with fresh bandages. Relieved, Mina slipped her sweatshirt over her head quickly.

“Now we have a dilemma,” Nayeon stated, making eye contact with Mina as soon as the girl’s head poked out through the hood of her sweatshirt.

“And what’s that?”

“What we do next. There’s one direction we can go in but if we do go there, there’s no coming back from it.”

Mina was intrigued by the other girl’s vagueness. Nayeon was looking at her quite strangely. “You have to give me a little more than that, Miss Vague,” Mina said.

Nayeon smiled, sticking her hands into her pockets. “I like you. And I want to kiss you right now. Is that okay?”

Mina couldn’t believe how blunt Nayeon was being. Without answering the question, Mina walked out of the bathroom and back into the guest bedroom. She stood with her back facing Nayeon, deep in thought.

Nayeon quickly followed the girl but kept her distance. “I thought that maybe you’d want to kiss me too.”

“Well, Nayeon, you’re not always right,” Mina answered coldly.

“Ouch,” Nayeon muttered, but didn’t take it personally. “When was the last time you’ve been with someone? The last time someone actually held you and made you feel safe and loved?”

Mina was silent, chewing on her bottom lip.

“It’s been awhile for me, personally. I’ve been with people for fun, to try to feel something, but it normally just left me feeling more alone than ever. I haven’t gotten close with someone I actually liked in a long time.” Nayeon wasn’t sure why she suddenly felt so open. Normally she’d never speak these words to another soul, and yet there was something about Mina that made her want to share her secrets. Perhaps it was the alcohol talking too—how strong was the stuff Mina had given her?

“You can’t afford to care about people in this world. Not in our line of work.” Mina was still facing away from Nayeon, and her voice was quiet.

“We’re done playing killers, both of us. This is it, whether we want it to be the end or not. You’re retiring off to some private island not even on a world map, and I’ll be...off doing who knows what.”

“Maybe,” Mina shrugged.

Nayeon was beginning to get frustrated with how little Mina was actually saying. “Here’s the start of a new life. Take a chance with me, will you?”

Mina sighed deeply. Was that annoyance Nayeon sensed, or something else? “Why would I do that? I don’t even know you.”

Nayeon growled slightly in aggravation. She wasn’t used to not getting what she wanted. “What do you wanna know about me? Ask me anything.”

Mina exhaled loudly, sounding slightly amused. “You seem pretty desperate, Im Nayeon.”

Nayeon crossed her arms and huffed. “You’re just playing hard to get...it’s pretty cute, actually.”

Mina spun around and glared at Nayeon, who gave her a dazzling smile. Mina couldn’t help but stare at the girl’s bunny teeth before shaking her head.

“You don’t want to get tangled up with me, okay?” Mina replied. “People around me get hurt.” There was a bit of sadness in her voice, and Nayeon could sense there was a story there, somewhere.

“I’m an assassin, remember? I’m tough, and I can take care of myself. Besides, I’ve accepted that I could die at any moment. It makes me sharper. I live for the thrills.” Nayeon continued to be her cocky self, and it was driving Mina absolutely crazy. She could kick Nayeon out onto the street—after all, she was doing charity work by allowing Nayeon to stay here—but for some reason she couldn’t stand the thought of Nayeon dying, and the girl would surely would die if she were kicked out now.

“Fine,” Mina whispered, with her eyes fixated on the wall beside Nayeon. She hung her head, as if she were feeling nervous.

“What was that?” Nayeon asked, taking a step forward. She had clearly heard what Mina had said, but she just wanted to tease the girl and make her squirm even more.

“I...like you too, I guess. For some reason. I really don’t know why. I mean, you’re clearly vain, self-absorbed, reckless—” Mina was cut off as Nayeon crossed the room until they were standing directly in front of each other. Her breath caught in her throat of Nayeon tilted her head slightly and stared at her.

“Can I kiss you now, then?”

Mina stared back with her mouth open slightly. God, what was she doing? This would be a mistake. The worst mistake she’d ever made in her life. She’d always been so careful, up until now. She wasn’t supposed to feel things for anyone. Feelings were dangerous. Trust was foolish. This much she had learned from the previous years of her life.

And yet, as soon as the question fell off of Nayeon’s lips, it was Mina who leaned forward and closed the distance between them.


	2. Hunter

True to her word, Mina was up as soon as the sun rose. She crawled out of bed, causing Nayeon to stir and groan. The older girl opened her eyes slightly to see Mina slipping inside a walk in closet attached to the bedroom. She came out a few minutes later in a skirt and blouse, sporting a light orange wig that was about the same length as her natural hair.

“We need to leave, now,” Mina announced. “Get dressed.”

Nayeon couldn’t help but stare at the girl. “That color looks nice on you, you should actually dye your hair that color someday.”

Mina pressed her lips together and walked back into the closet. She came out a moment later with a full outfit on a hanger and threw it on the bed in front of Nayeon. “It’d be nice if you had a sense of urgency.”

Nayeon smiled at that, letting her head rest back against the pillow for one moment. “God, I wish I could stay in this bed with you forever,” Nayeon murmured, but she did as she was told, stumbling out of bed and putting on the outfit Mina had picked out for her. It was a dress—business casual. It looked expensive.

Nayeon spun around, making the bottom of her dress billow up and spin with her. “What do you think?” She asked, giving Mina her signature smile.

Mina looked at her with no expression, but anyone paying close attention could tell her eyes lingered for a bit too long on Nayeon before she turned away. Nayeon happened to be paying very close attention.

“I have a private jet waiting and a pilot on standby. We just need to get to the airfield—“

“We?” Nayeon asked, surprised to hear Mina talking about the two of them as a collective.

Mina turned back to Nayeon, looking slightly annoyed. “Well, you’re coming with me, aren’t you?”

Before waiting for a reply, Mina walked out of the bedroom, leaving Nayeon with a knowing smile on her face. “I guess I’m just that good in bed,” she murmured to herself as she walked out the door after Mina.

There was a driver waiting for Mina and Nayeon outside of the apartment. With only a small suitcase of belongings each, the two girls got inside the black SUV. The ride to the airfield was rather quiet. Mina was staring out the window, watching the surroundings of the city she’d gotten used to calling home pass her by for the last time.

The driver opened both doors for Nayeon and Mina and helped the girls out. The airfield housed a variety of private jets, and was a small, fenced in property with just enough room for a take-off strip.

The pilot, a short man sporting a greying beard and mustache, bowed in front of both Mina and Nayeon as they approached him. He had the door to the jet open and helped both girls inside. The interior of the jet was rather homey, much to Nayeon’s surprise. She sat down on a plush seat a few seats away from Mina, letting herself sink into the material. “I can get used to this,” she mumbled, letting her eyes close.

Although Nayeon was curious as to where they were actually going, she didn’t ask any questions. They ended up flying for approximately 20 hours. Nayeon slept for a good portion of the flight, only waking to use the bathroom and to eat some of the food supplied on the plane.

She even broke into some beer, taking a swig and trying to enjoy herself for the last time before her life would turn into a constant state of being on the run.

“You seem to be enjoying yourself,” Mina replied, watching Nayeon with a slight smile on her face.

“I can’t believe you own this. An entire jet.”

Mina’s smile grew bigger. “I spent my money wisely. I knew this would be a good investment.”

Nayeon couldn’t help but regard Mina with fondness. She felt lucky to be invited here. If she hadn’t ended up on this plane, she would’ve been scrambling to get a bus ride out of the country. From there she’d attempt to make it on a plane to somewhere in the Caribbean, or perhaps Mexico.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Mina asked. Nayeon had been staring at her for a solid minute without explanation.

“I was just admiring you,” Nayeon admitted. Mina wouldn’t say so but hearing that made her heart start beating slightly faster. She quickly turned away, looking out at the blue sky.

Mina drifted off, letting her forehead rest against the side of the jet. Nayeon finished her beer and decided to switch seats, moving to the one next to Mina’s. She buckled herself in and smiled in satisfaction. Ever so slowly, she began to lean to her left until her head was resting against Mina’s shoulder.

Normally she wouldn’t allow herself to do something so vulnerable—but up in the clouds she felt as though she was safe, especially with Mina. Despite Mina’s rather judgemental default stare, Nayeon felt that she could get away with things like this with her. Grinning to herself like a schoolgirl, Nayeon closed her eyes and let sleep take her, finding comfort in Mina’s presence.

Once they landed at their destination—a city in Brazil—Mina gently woke Nayeon, who yawned and stretched like a cat before shooting Mina a soft smile. “How long have you been awake?” Nayeon asked.

“About an hour,” Mina replied, unbuckling her seatbelt. That meant she’d let Nayeon lean against her that entire time. Nayeon was tempted to tease Mina that she’d grown soft, but decided otherwise. Mina rolled her shoulders a few times before standing up on slightly wobbly legs.

“Where did you take us?” Nayeon asked as the two were helped off the jet.

“Brazil. I bought a small house here on the outskirts of Salvador.”

Nayeon nodded, excited to see the country for the first time.

The pilot introduced Mina and Nayeon to a tall man who would be their driver to the house Mina spoke about. He was a quiet but polite man that opened the car doors for them both. He had a local radio station playing softly in the background as he drove the two girls about an hour to their destination. Nayeon was starting to get a bit antsy, so she began to ask Mina some general questions.

“What’s your favorite color?”

Mina turned to Nayeon in surprise, as if Nayeon had just asked her to reveal her darkest secret.

“You have to have a favorite color. It’s impossible not to. Wait, let me try to guess.”

Nayeon squinted at Mina in concentration, as if staring with intensity would unlock the answer in her mind. Mina stared back, slightly amused.

“Red,” Nayeon finally stated, crossing her arms and nodding to herself. “You’re a red kind of person.”

Mina pursed her lips. “Why would you say that?”

Nayeon shrugged. “It’s just the first color that came to mind.”

Mina held back a smile. She didn’t want to admit Nayeon was right, so she quickly decided on another color. “I like blue, actually,” she answered flatly.

“Blue? Damn. What shade of blue?”

Mina thought for a second. “Sky blue,” she decided, pointing out to the vast sky around them.

Nayeon looked out her own window and clicked her tongue. “It is pretty.”

“Guess you’re not always right after all,” Mina smirked. She was enjoying the slightly annoyed look on Nayeon’s face. There was some satisfaction in shrinking Nayeon’s ego, even with a little white lie. “Now, tell me your favorite color.”

“It tends to change over time. Right now, it’s light pink,” she replied. Her pout quickly turned into a neutral expression. “Are you a dog or cat person?”

Mina smiled. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had asked her these questions. They were simple, yet telling. No one had taken this much interest in her in awhile. It felt...nice.

“Growing up, I had a dog,” she replied, thinking back to her childhood. Despite growing up in a toxic environment, this was one thing she was thankful for. “I like cats, but I prefer dogs.”

Nayeon hummed. “Good. I like dogs too.”

Both girls wanted to ask more personal questions, but with the driver within earshot, they knew they had to be discrete. To pass the time, they went back and forth with similar questions, learning more about one another.

Arriving at the small yet cozy house Mina had purchased, Nayeon couldn’t help but feel as though something had shifted in the air around her. The driver helped Mina and Nayeon with their few suitcases, carrying them to the front door before giving a friendly nod and driving off. Mina unlocked the door with a key that had been in her purse, pushing the door aside slowly.

The house was fully furnished, with an antique feel. The floors were dark cherry wood, and they were perfectly polished. There was even a grand piano in the corner of the living room. A back patio gave a view of the Atlantic ocean. Nayeon couldn’t help but gasp at the sight.

“You really outdid yourself, Myoui!” Nayeon yelled, throwing open the sliding glass door to the back patio rather clumsily. She ran outside, leaning against the railing of the balcony and staring out at the endless ocean before her. She laughed her cackle-like laugh, taking in the view with wide eyes.

Mina stood in the doorway with her arms crossed, staring at Nayeon’s back and her long, dark brown hair fluttering around in the breeze. It smelled fresh and salty outside, making Mina crinkle her nose slightly until the strong smell faded as she grew used to it. Nayeon turned around with the brightest smile Mina had ever seen, causing Mina’s breath to get caught in her throat as she stepped forward shyly. The view was nice, but seeing it with Nayeon somehow made it feel more real. After all, what good is an amazing view if you have no one else to share it with?

“This is perfect,” Nayeon replied, reaching out for Mina’s hand and taking it in her own. The gesture made Mina blush slightly because it was cheesy, yet she didn’t let go. “Thank you for letting me come along.”

“I would’ve been bored by myself,” Mina responded nonchalantly. Nayeon’s eyes were on her but Mina was looking out at the water, pretending not to notice.

“This is paradise. We’ll have to enjoy it as long as it lasts.” There was only a matter of time before the Organization caught up to them. They’d have to run, sooner or later.

“We will,” Mina assured.

The two girls walked back inside after another minute of taking in the view. Nayeon took the time to inspect every inch of the apartment—playfully hitting a key on the piano, running her finger along the indentations of titles on the spines of a few books on a bookshelf, and most importantly, flopping down on the king sized bed. There was only one bedroom in the house.

“We’ll put this to good use.” Nayeon sat up on the bed and leaned back on her elbows while shooting Mina a devilish grin. Mina, who had been trailing behind Nayeon like a shadow, shot back a look of disgust before turning on her heel and walking out of the room. “C’mon, you know it’s true!” Nayeon shouted after the girl. She sank back against the bed and sighed heavily.

Nayeon found Mina sitting on the piano bench, staring down at the keys. “Did you pick out everything in this house?” she asked.

Mina nodded. “Even all the books. All my favorites are here—and some others I’ve been meaning to read but haven’t gotten around to yet. I never learned to play piano, but I’ve always wanted to, so I figured my retirement would be a good time to start.” She gazed down at the keys longingly, softly placing all of her fingers on the keys. “I wasn’t sure how long I’d be here, so I wanted to have plenty to do.”

“You’re like the doomsday prepper of assassins,” Nayeon chuckled. Mina looked slightly offended at that. “That’s a compliment, silly.”

“Now you get to enjoy the benefits of all my hard work. Don’t make me regret bringing you here with me, Im Nayeon.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  
Nayeon was right. Her and Mina did make good use of that king sized bed. They also busied themselves with other things. Mina spent a lot of time reading. Nayeon would watch the girl’s eyes flick over the pages with delicacy. Mina recommended a book to Nayeon, one of her favorites, and so Nayeon began to read it with vivor. Sure enough, the words in the novel were dream-like and whimsical, whisking Nayeon away to another world hidden in the pages. Nayeon could understand why Mina liked the book so much.

Nayeon would often read as Mina practiced the piano, following along to the beginner’s guidebook sitting on the music stand. Every time Mina messed up, she sighed loudly with disappoint in herself, making Nayeon giggle.

“What’s so funny?” Mina asked with annoyance written all over her face as she turned around to glare at Nayeon.

“You’re so hard on yourself. You just started learning, so mistakes will happen. You act like you’ve been playing for years already. You’re not a virtuoso...yet.” Nayeon knew if Mina kept practicing consistently, she’d pick up the instrument in no time. She had this sort of determination unlike anything Nayeon had ever seen—almost an obsession with whatever she wanted to accomplish.

Mina shrugged. “I just like to do things correctly, that’s all.” She turned back to the piano but let Nayeon’s words echo in her mind. Perhaps the girl was right—Mina was just learning piano for fun, after all. It wasn’t like she was practicing knife-throwing, which was quite literally life or death. The next time she hit a wrong key she almost sighed bitterly but caught herself beforehand. Instead, she took note of her mistake and started again from the beginning of the measure with determination.

Over the course of their time together, the girls began to extract information about each other. It was late one night—Nayeon and Mina were both lying in bed next to one another, with Nayeon spooning Mina. She had her arms wrapped around Mina’s waist, holding her so that there was no space in between them—when Mina asked Nayeon why she became an assassin. Nayeon was silent for a moment, as if holding her breath, before she cleared her throat to answer. “My parents...well, they both died when I was young,” Nayeon began. “Because I was young, it left quite an impression on me. I had to live with my aunt and uncle after that, who I both loved very much, but something about my parents’ death just didn’t sit right with me.”

Mina placed her hands overtop of Nayeon’s and began to trace the girl’s knuckles with her fingers.

“Once I was old enough to understand what happened, I began to look into things more. Their deaths were made out to be random murders—nothing more than the fault of a scared and jumpy burglar—but the circumstances surrounding the case had more weight to them than that. My dad was a businessman, and he had just been promoted shortly before he was killed. He would’ve received a substantial pay raise and more power within the company. Clearly, he had been killed so someone else could get the promotion instead.”

“The deeper I got into everything, the more I learned about the world of assassins right under the public’s noses. I found out about the three factions—rumors and drunk-talk that turned out to be real. I ended up tracking down my parents’ murderers to be assassins that worked for the Defiant. What I wanted more than anything was revenge. I found the Organization—it wasn’t easy, but I did—and begged to be trained under them.”

“Why do you think they let you in?” Mina asked. “You were what—fifteen, sixteen?”

Nayeon reached a hand up and very gently began to stroke Mina’s hair. “Because, an assassin with nothing left to live for is dangerous, but an assassin with a reason to live is the most dangerous kind of person of all.”

Nayeon laughed suddenly, taking Mina off guard. “It’s funny. I thought I would find peace in working for the group determined to end the Defiant. I thought I’d armor myself up so that I would never feel pain again too. But, as the Organization chipped away at my humanity, bit by bit, I realized I’d become exactly like the monsters that killed my parents in the first place.”

“After I made my first kill, I realized my target must’ve had a family, maybe kids of his own. I’d done exactly to others what had been done to me when I was a child. At that point though, it was too late to get out. I detached myself from feeling anything...that was the only way I could bear it. I was good enough at it, anyway.”

Mina waited a bit, making sure Nayeon was done, before she rolled over so that she was facing the other girl. Nayeon’s face was obscured in the darkness, only silhouetted by the light from a single candle in the room, but Mina didn’t have to reach out and touch the girl’s cheek to know that it was wet with tears.

“My beautiful girl,” she murmured, snuggling against Nayeon tightly. Feeling Nayeon’s slightly labored breath against her forehead, Mina gave Nayeon a small kiss on the nose. “You’re not a monster. A monster would not feel remorse for anything they had done. We both got wrapped up into a system we weren’t built for.”

Nayeon sniffled slightly, feeling embarrassed that Mina had seen her cry. She had not let herself be this vulnerable in front of someone in a long time. And yet, it felt slightly therapeutic––as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Nayeon wouldn’t realize this until months later, but this was the day she fell in love.

They went swimming once, jumping into the slightly chilly ocean in the small patch of beach on their property. The sight of Mina in a vintage looking one-piece nearly had Nayeon’s jaw on the ground, but she contained herself and took pleasure in splashing the younger girl and hearing her whine about the cold. Mina splashed Nayeon back with a vengeance, of course—soaking Nayeon’s hair in the process.

As great as the house was, Nayeon couldn’t help but get stir crazy spending so much time inside. While Mina seemed content, Nayeon eventually brought up the possibility of venturing farther than the beach in the backyard. They’d been having groceries delivered to them, but Nayeon suggested they go out and try getting them on their own.

Although Mina didn’t think it was the best idea, she knew Nayeon was getting antsy. Mina did want to make Nayeon happy, after all, so the two walked hand and hand to a small grocery store later that day. Despite it being such a mundane act, both girls found joy in picking out their food for the week together, and so it became a bit of a weekly ritual.

They went out into Salvador occasionally to go out to eat at restaurants as well. Mina treated Nayeon every time, and the older girl couldn’t help but feel bad that she wasn’t contributing at all. “I have an offshore bank account, you know,” Nayeon replied. “I have a good amount of money saved up.”

Mina waved her hand, dismissing the girl as they walked back to the house along a windy, cobblestone road. “Tell you what, when the Organization finds us you can pay for our next housing arrangement. This is the only safehouse I purchased, so we’ll need to figure things out as we go.”

That reminded Nayeon that her time here with Mina wouldn’t last forever—this chapter in her life would end, no matter how much she didn’t want it to. She could only hope that her and Mina had covered their tracks well enough to stay hidden for a few more years.

Approximately 6 months passed before their illusion of domestic living shattered.

They were enjoying dinner in the city, taking in the sights and sounds that Salvador had to offer. Mina got up to use the restroom, so Nayeon was kicking back and drumming her fingers on the table, people watching. The minute Mina disappeared inside the restaurant, a woman sat down in her place across from Nayeon. Instantly, Nayeon was on red alert, prepared to make a run for it if necessary. Her hand quickly found the gun tucked away beneath her dress, preparing to draw it.

“Relax,” the girl said. She put up both hands in a show of innocence. “I just want to talk, Im Nayeon.”

“Start talking,” Nayeon murmured. “Or you’ll have a hole blown into your forehead in a few seconds.”

“You wouldn’t do that here, in the middle of a crowd, would you?” the woman asked, giving Nayeon a smug look. She had long, straight brown hair, and eyes that immediately caught Nayeon’s attention. Nayeon would find the girl very pretty if the hairs on the back of her own neck weren’t standing on edge.

“Want to find out and see?” Nayeon gave the woman a challenging glare.

“Let’s cut to the chase. I’m here because the assassin you’re with is not who you think she is.”

Nayeon’s hand slowly drew back from the gun. She arched an eyebrow. “Obviously.” Despite their closeness, Mina was always a bit mysterious. While Nayeon wanted to know more personal details about the girl she’d been sleeping with for months, she never pushed Mina to talk. Nayeon had managed to fill in some gaps about Mina’s family, and a bit of her training in the Organization, but that was about it.

The unsurprised reaction took the girl across the table slightly off guard, but she quickly recovered. “Mina is not a member of the Organization, not truly.”

“Who is she then, Miss Mysterious? Please, enlighten me.”

“She’s a Defiant spy. Don’t believe me? Look at these.” The woman pulled a few pictures out of her purse, laying them neatly in a row across the table. Nayeon leaned forward, studying the images intently. The images captured Mina wearing the signature Defiant look—dark cloaks and masks that only covered the mouth and nose. There was even an ID of sorts, with a simple headshot of Mina, in which she stared at the camera with hollow eyes. Beneath her name was a code number: 0183.

The world crashed onto its side and Nayeon was tumbling—down, down, down.

“So that’s her big, dark secret, huh?” Nayeon asked. “A Defiant spy. It’s a total cliche, really. I expected nothing less.” Nayeon barked out a laugh, but it sounded weightless and dead.

Images of her parents flashed before her eyes. Her family had been eating dinner when the men wearing the Defiant cloak and mask broke down the front door to their apartment. Her mother had begged the men to let Nayeon go. After a bit of hesitation, the man calling the shots agreed and let Nayeon run back to her room. Nayeon didn’t want to go—crying and holding onto her mother tightly—but her mom had promised everything would be okay.

She heard some shouting about money, and then two gunshots, and that was it. The next thing she knew, an officer pulled her out from under her bed, asking her if she was alright and what had happened. She had been 7 years old at the time.

She didn’t know how deep into the pockets of the police force the Defiant were then, but now she knew how easy it was for the whole incident to be written off as nothing more than a robbery gone wrong.

Nayeon tried to remain calm and brush off the news about Mina, but her heart was breaking. The woman across the table could sense that, and actually looked at Nayeon with pity.

“Why are you showing me all this?” Nayeon replied, feeling numb.

“Because, we’re here to take her home. She lost her standing in the Organization ranks but we still have use for her. If you care about her at all, you’ll convince her to come back to us willingly. If we have to drag her back it’ll be ugly, and you’ll surely get hurt.”

“She’s free to make her own choices, I don’t control her,” Nayeon hissed. “Besides, why are you asking me to do this? Why don’t you just talk to her yourself?”

“She won’t listen to me,” the girl replied, somewhat bitterly. “But for god-knows-what-reason, she’ll listen to you.”

Nayeon took a breath, closing her eyes as if flipping on a switch inside her brain—the one that allowed her to stomach being an assassin in the first place. She opened her eyes and smirked, letting the words fall from her lips as if she hadn’t just been torn apart. “What can I say? I hear I’m quite charming.”

The girl sitting in front of her slammed her fist on the table, nearly making Nayeon jump.

“Don’t underestimate us,” the woman warned. “Her ties to the Defiant run blood deep. She can’t escape it.”

“That’s bullshit,” Nayeon retorted, shaking her head. “She doesn’t belong in this world and you and I both know it. She’s getting out of this life and I’m right behind her.”

The woman smiled sadly at that. “I wish it could be that easy.” She stood up quickly and collected the pictures she showed Nayeon, putting them back in her purse. “I know you’ll make the right choice.” And with that, she walked away, leaving Nayeon alone.

Nayeon gritted her teeth, still trying to process the information.

Mina sat back down shortly after that, looking at Nayeon with wary eyes. The girl was visibly upset, and Mina wasn’t sure what could’ve changed in the few minutes she was gone. She reached across the table for Nayeon’s hand but Nayeon pulled her own hand back before Mina could reach it. At the sudden movement, Mina flinched.

“So when were you gonna tell me that you’re a Defiant spy?” Nayeon asked, causing Mina to scrunch her hands into fists, digging her well kept fingernails into her palms.

“How did you find out?” Mina didn’t bother to deny it. The look on Nayeon’s face was one of agonizing pain.

“One of your friends—a real stick in the mud, just like you—came by while you were in the restroom and we had a little chat.”

“Did she have long, straight light brown hair?” Mina asked. “Big eyes? About my height?”

“Yeah, that’s her.”

“Jihyo,” Mina muttered. “How did she find me? I covered all my tracks, took every necessary precaution!” There was frustration in her voice but that quickly melted away as she realized the weight of her secret that had just been exposed. “Nayeon—”

“Save it, Mina. I knew this would happen. This whole thing between us was all a big lie. Make-believe. God, I was so stupid to let myself fall for you.”

The weight of Nayeon’s words crashed against Mina with so much force that she struggled to draw in a breath. “It was real for me,” Mina insisted. “Every moment.”

Nayeon let out a bitter laugh. “Maybe you’re telling the truth. Maybe you’re not. Either way, this is what I needed, honestly. Someone to wake me up from this dream we’ve been living in. Back to reality.” She stood up, and the sound of her chair scraping against the stone floor made Mina cringe. “This was all a mistake.”

“What are you doing?” Mina asked with a soft voice.

“Leaving,” Nayeon stated. She looked extremely tired.

Mina squeezed her eyes shut, holding back tears. “If you think that’s for the best,” she managed to choke out. She couldn’t blame Nayeon, not really. Mina had been keeping a huge part of her life a secret. Relationships couldn’t be built on secrets. And besides, assassins, even ex-communicated ones, weren’t meant to fall in love.

And yet, Mina had.

Nayeon walked away from Mina, only carrying the money in her wallet. She’d make due with it and figure something out. Mina sat and watched Nayeon disappear into the city crowd, letting her go.

After a few minutes, Jihyo re-emerged from the crowd and stood beside Mina, looking down at her silently.

“What did you say to her?” Mina asked without turning her head to face Jihyo. There was no hello or formalities—she was straight to the point.

“What I had to,” was all Jihyo said. She smiled sadly at Mina.

“I’m not going back with you, Jihyo.”

Mina stood up abruptly, wobbling slightly as if she were drunk. The truth was, her legs felt so weak they could barely support her own weight. The two girls stood looking at each other in silence. Jihyo exhaled a disappointed breath. “It was worth a shot,” she shrugged.

“You can tell them I’m never coming back, I’m done.”

Jihyo nodded at that. “I will, but you know that won’t stop them, right? They’ll have me chase after you for the rest of your life.”

“I hope you like traveling,” Mina replied. The statement was meant to be humorous but there was no humor in her voice.

“They ordered me to kill her, you know,” Jihyo admitted. “Cut your last tie to the outside world. With her you’re a liability—a ticking time bomb. You know that, don’t you?”

“An assassin with nothing left to live for is dangerous, but an assassin with a reason to live is the most dangerous kind of person of all,” Mina replied. She nodded at Jihyo, silently thanking her for sparing Nayeon’s life, before she walked quickly back toward the direction she believed Nayeon would’ve traveled.

Nayeon ran—far away. Taking buses, trains, even boats. She ran hoping that she’d find a new purpose, and some day leave behind the pain lodged in her chest from a betrayal she should’ve seen coming.

The only person you can trust in this world is yourself. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool, Mina had said.

I’ll be the fool who trusts you, then. And Nayeon turned out to be a fool indeed.

Nayeon couldn’t be that mad at Mina. After all, spies in the ranks were more common than most assassins liked to believe. It was common to play multiple sides, especially between the warring factions. But, the fact that Mina had been a Defiant spy was just like rubbing salt in a wound. More than anything, Nayeon was mad at herself for being so trusting. So stupid.

Within days she was hundreds of miles away.

Nayeon ran. But Mina chased after her.

The thought of seeing Nayeon again was slightly dreadful, but Mina couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. She’d let her walk away at first, and that sight nearly killed her. She was stupid to let Nayeon go without trying to provide an explanation. She at least owed Nayeon that much. What Nayeon decided to do from there—either running away again, or even spitting in Mina’s face—Mina was willing to accept.

Nayeon was good at disappearing, but Mina was good at tracking. Even under various names and sporting different hair colors and styles, Mina was only steps behind Nayeon. She followed the girl from Brazil to Argentina. She finally came face to face with her in Buenos Aires.

Nayeon was sitting outside at a cafe, enjoying an Americano alone, when the girl she’d been running from all these months sat across from her without a word. Mina was sporting large sunglasses and her hair was dyed to be a ginger color—the same color as that wig she had worn when Nayeon and Mina had first left Korea in Mina’s private jet.

“That color really does suit you,” Nayeon replied, not looking surprised at all to see Mina. “I was right, as usual.”

“Nayeon, there’s something I have to say.” Mina displayed a cool exterior, but inside a sense of nervousness churned. She didn’t want Nayeon to leave her again, so Mina had to make sure every word she spoke was handled with care. “I was originally a member of the Defiant, but I never wanted to be.”

“Hm,” Nayeon hummed, taking a sip of her coffee. Her eyes subtly darted around their surroundings, scanning for any enemies in their midst that Mina might have brought with her. “Go on.”

“My family...they are one of the founding families of the Defiant.”

Nayeon was slightly surprised by this, but didn’t let it show.

“I came from money. My family accumulated their wealth through...creative means. This is the environment I grew up in.”

Nayeon ran her thumb along the top rim of her coffee mug. “That explains why you seemed so skilled after being with the Organization for only a year in a half. You’ve spent your whole life training, haven’t you?”

Mina nodded, taking a breath. “I was given the mission of infiltrating the Organization. It wasn’t easy, but I managed. But once I was in their depths, I disappeared. I dove as far into the Organization as I could so I could cut my ties with the Defiant. I stopped relying them information. I went rogue.”

“Myoui Mina, the goody-two shoes, a rogue assassin? The plot thickens.”

Nayeon’s apparent non-caring and sarcastic attitude made Mina grit her teeth. Mina took off her sunglasses and set them down gently on the table in front of her. “When you met me for the first time, I considered myself purely an agent of the Organization. Even now, I do not accept any association with the Defiant.”

Flicking some of her long, strawberry red hair over her shoulder, Nayeon leaned back against her chair and stared at Mina intently. When she met the girl’s eyes, she felt her chest tighten. She’d been trying to forget those eyes for so long, but now that she was looking at them she didn’t know why she’d want to forget them in the first place. This was the danger of being with Mina.

“Why run from them—your family?” Nayeon asked, resting her elbow on the table in front of her and propping up her chin.

Mina swallowed hard, steeling herself to travel down memory lane. “I didn’t agree with their practices. My parents forced me into a life I never wanted, and I despised them for it.”

“So let me get this straight. You ran from the Defiant, only to end up in the Organization? The most feared group of assassins on the planet?” Nayeon cocked an eyebrow, looking at Mina with a guarded gaze.

“It was a way out, and I took it,” Mina replied with a sharp voice. “I had limited options and it seemed like my only one. And with the help and protection of the Organization, I was able to escape for some time. But it seems my family found me. They’re probably watching me, even now.”

“The reason I didn’t tell you any of this earlier is because I was scared," Mina continued. "I was scared you wouldn’t be able to look at me the same way after you knew—that you would want nothing to do with me anymore. I was trying to hold onto you for as long as I could.” Mina’s voice was beginning to break, and she was struggling not to shed a tear. “It was selfish, I know, and I’m sorry for that. But, I probably hate the Defiant just as much as you do, so can you please forgive me?”

“Okay.”

“Okay? That’s it? That’s all you have to say to me?” Mina’s voice rose in volume and pitch. Her hands turned into fists under the table as her marble exterior cracked. “I’ve been tracking you for months and that’s all you can think to say?”

Nayeon laughed, making Mina’s blood boil. Further infuriating Mina even more, Nayeon’s laugh was the most beautiful sound she’d heard in months.

“What do you want me to say? I forgive you for lying? I understand your motives? Because Mina, I was never really mad at you in the first place.”

Mina’s brow furrowed. “What?”

Nayeon gave Mina a lazy smile, tilting her head slightly to the right. “I was a little mad at first, I mean, the fact that you were a part of the faction that was a sworn enemy of mine stung a bit, but that didn’t last long. We all have secrets. I knew you weren’t exactly the girl I thought you were. I was more mad at myself for creating this perfect version of you in my head. I set myself up for heartbreak. I was a fool. That’s why I was mad at myself more than anything, and needed some time to myself to clear my head.”

Mina didn’t know what to say to that, she could only stare at Nayeon a bit helplessly.

“I only kept running because I wanted to see if you’d chase after me. I had a feeling you would. And here we are. I’m never wrong, you know.”

There was Nayeon’s cocky grin, making Mina shake her head and press her lips together. “Im Nayeon...you’re an asshole.”

Nayeon threw back her head laughing. “That I am.”

After a minute of pouting, Mina let herself laugh too.


	3. Friend

Things were strangely awkward at first between the two girls once they reunited, as if they were strangers. Mina followed Nayeon back to her hotel room with nothing more than a suitcase of belongings. She’d left everything else in the house by the ocean that they’d spent six months in together. That felt like a lifetime ago—nothing more than a foggy dream that disappeared as the day progressed.

Mina was more reserved and polite than usual, which for some reason made Nayeon’s skin crawl. She craved to see a glimpse of the girl who’d broken out of her shell at that house on the ocean. Days went by with Mina and Nayeon playing an awkward game of setting new boundaries. Nayeon herself remained good-spirited and tried to make jokes often, but she couldn’t help but be more guarded and on edge than before. After all, she knew that Mina had a whole world of secrets tucked away—secrets that might never surface. Nayeon had accepted this fact, but could her and Mina ever truly belong to one another with so many things hidden between them?

It occurred to Nayeon then, as she laid in the queen sized hotel bed beside Mina one night, that maybe they were no more than strangers after all.

Nayeon wanted to be more than that to Mina, but she wasn’t sure if Mina felt the same. But Mina had come all this way to find her, hadn’t she? She wouldn’t have chased after Nayeon if she didn’t want to hold onto whatever it was the two had going on between them, right? Some days it had felt like they were dating, other days just friends with benefits, but now they were back to square one—it was no different than the day they had seen each other’s faces for the first time.

Nayeon couldn’t stand it, but she didn’t know the best way to go about getting through this uncertain phase. So she endured, hoping that one day they’d fall back into old habits as if their time apart hadn’t happened—as if Jihyo had never come along and told Nayeon that Mina was a Defiant spy.

Each night they laid in bed with a gap between them. It was no more than a few inches, but Nayeon couldn’t help but feel they were oceans apart. She had grown used to sleeping tangled up with Mina each night, so the fact that the girl was right beside her but not in her arms felt wrong. Was it driving Mina crazy, too?

Feeling slightly brave and impatient, Nayeon made a rash decision to break the silence that permeated between them. “What did you wanna grow up to be when you were a kid?” Nayeon asked, rolling over so that she was facing Mina. She could tell the other was awake just by the tempo of her breathing. When Mina was asleep her breathing slowed down significantly, but now the rise and fall of her chest was moderately paced.

Mina was silent for a moment—perhaps she was actually sleeping and Nayeon was wrong?—but then the girl turned over so that she was facing Nayeon as well. They were staring at each other in the darkness, with only a small ray of light peeking in through a gap in the window curtains. Nayeon could feel her heart rate increase. “I wanted to be a singer,” Mina said.

Taken off guard, Nayeon couldn’t help but snort. “A singer?” she repeated with an inflection that suggested she was surprised. Mina rolled over in annoyance so that her back was now facing Nayeon.

“What, you’re serious?” Nayeon asked, suddenly feeling bad for laughing. Mina didn’t respond, but simply stared at the alarm clock on the nightstand next to her. Now riding off of her initial burst of courage, Nayeon scooted closer so that she was pressed against the other girl. Nayeon could instantly feel Mina tense up against her upon initial contact, but a second later she relaxed again, as if relieved to feel Nayeon beside her. “I’m sorry,” Nayeon replied. “I didn’t mean to laugh.” This was a good first step in the right direction, Nayeon thought to herself.

“Is it really that laughable,” Mina said, quietly, “that I would want to be a performer?”

“Of course not. It’s just you don’t seem like the type of person that would want to perform on stage in front of hundreds of people, that’s all.”

Mina could feel Nayeon’s soft breathing on the back of her neck. She had forgotten what that felt like—what the presence of someone she cared about being this close to her felt like. “I went to a concert once. It was a sense of normalcy I had to beg my parents for—and they caved. The group performing was so put together and cool—they just radiated charisma—and I remember then and there wanting to be just like them. I wanted to experience hundreds of people calling out my name. Being the center of everything instead of slinking off in the shadows.”

Mina was still turned away from Nayeon, so her voice was slightly muted. “It was silly, I know, but I held onto that dream for quite some time.”

“It’s not silly,” Nayeon assured. She fought the urge to let her fingers trail along Mina’s arm in front of her. “I think you could’ve done it, if you hadn’t ended up here.”

“Do you really think so?” Mina asked, earnestly. Even though Nayeon couldn’t see Mina’s face, she could envision the expression she wore now, with wide eyes and her lips slightly parted.

“I heard you singing to yourself when you played piano back at the house,” Nayeon admitted. “You thought I was outside, or in the bedroom, but I’d stand just out of sight in the hallway and listen to you. Your voice is lovely.” Nayeon’s voice grew softer the more she spoke. She felt embarrassed and strangely vulnerable—a feeling she hadn’t felt since she was back at the house with Mina.

Mina gently scooched to the end of the bed so she had enough space to roll back around and face Nayeon once again. “If you wanted to listen, you could’ve just asked.”

Nayeon could envision the moment in her head—herself shyly asking Mina to sing a song for her. Mina turning red but complying, nervously taking a breath before letting her fingers fall along the piano keys and letting her melodic voice carry throughout the house. Too bad this was only a vision of what could’ve been, for they could never go back to that house on the ocean.

“Next time I will,” Nayeon replied with a smile. “Can you sing me a lullaby tonight?”

Nayeon had that coy smile on her face that Mina had grown to both despise and love. Mina rolled her eyes in the darkness. “Not a chance.” But she was smiling, too.

Suddenly Mina was well aware of how close they were—they were the closest they’d been the entire week since they’d been reunited. It was a scary thought, but it was also thrilling. For some reason, Mina found it hard to reopen herself up to Nayeon, although she wanted nothing more than to do so. Perhaps it was the fear of Nayeon running off again after finding out about a dark part of Mina’s past.

“What are we, Mina? Who are we?” Nayeon asked. Her voice was surprisingly soft and unsure.

Mina, in response, remained silent. After what felt like forever, she withdrew a shaky breath and responded. “We’re hopelessly broken, both of us, but when I’m with you I feel as close to whole as I can be.”

They kissed then. It wasn’t desperate or rough, but surprisingly gentle. Falling back into this habit felt as natural as riding a bike. It was only a matter of time before they were intertwined together.

“What did you want to be when you grew up?” Mina asked, once they were both lying on their backs next to each other.

Nayeon smiled to herself, thinking back on her childhood when her parents were still in her life. “I wanted to make movies.” She remembered how her dad had brought her on the set of a drama once. His friend had been a crew member, and so she’d gotten to see the filmmaking process first hand. She was fascinated about how many people were working behind the scenes to make it.

Mina turned her head to face Nayeon. “A director?”

Nayeon shrugged. “I just wanted to be a part of it, you know? Whether it was directing, filming, even acting. I loved watching movies when I was a kid. I think it was because of the storytelling. I loved to read and write too—anything that let me escape to another world. I wanted to make my own worlds and let other people travel to them and share in the fantasy with me.”

Mina slowly found Nayeon’s hand and intertwined their fingers together. The gesture made butterflies fill Nayeon’s stomach.

“See, you’re not the only one who had a silly dream,” Nayeon said.

Mina turned her head and quickly pecked Nayeon on the cheek. “I think that’s a wonderful dream.”

“I feel like I’m living in a dream now, here with you,” Nayeon confessed. Her small smile faded into something more serious. “But that scares me, because dreams aren’t meant to come true.” Mina had once told Nayeon that people around her got hurt. Would Nayeon end up just being another victim—a tragic girl falling into a love she was never meant to have, just as Mina had warned? Would the weight of her own secrets eventually crush them both? Perhaps the Organization would kill them before the Defiant got the chance to drag Mina away from her.

Mina let go of Nayeon’s hand and turned onto her side so that her head was resting on Nayeon’s chest. With her left hand, she lightly traced patterns on Nayeon’s stomach. “Dreams aren’t meant to be unattainable. Difficult to reach perhaps, but not impossible.”

“That’s a surprisingly positive outlook,” Nayeon replied. Mina’s thoughtful answer had calmed Nayeon’s nerves slightly, as if confirming that Mina wanted whatever it was between them to work. Nayeon lifted her left hand so that she could stroke Mina’s hair. The comforting feeling made Mina’s eyelids begin to flutter shut.

Mina felt safe here with Nayeon, much safer than she’d felt running on her own. She didn’t want to lose that feeling, not like she had a few months ago. The absence of Nayeon beside her each day had nearly crushed her. The weight had been so terrible that Mina had almost stopped chasing after Nayeon and started running in the opposite direction. After all, having someone else out there in the world with that much power over you could be dangerous. She had learned that once already, and didn’t want to make the same mistake twice.

Yet, here she was, clinging onto Nayeon. A fool in love indeed.

They moved to a different hotel in a neighboring city the next day. Nayeon had acquired a good amount of money in the months her and Mina were apart, so she was treating Mina to expensive rooms and good food. How Nayeon had come into all this money was slightly unclear, although Mina had a feeling it was a combination of the offshore fund she’d mentioned before and a bit of pickpocketing and theft. Either way, Mina felt strangely content with being treated by Nayeon, although she’d never actually admit it. It felt nice to be taken care of instead of being the one who was doing the caretaking.

“Jihyo won’t be far behind us,” Mina replied as the two girls were walking side by side through a shopping mall. “I tried my best to lose her on my way to you but she’s one of the best trackers in the Defiant. If she wants to find someone, she will. She could even be trailing us now, and I hate thinking we’re constantly being watched.”

“Let her watch us then,” Nayeon shrugged. “She’ll make her move eventually, and we’ll be ready for her.” Nayeon looked over to see Mina’s slightly worried expression. She elbowed the younger girl and put on a lazy smile. “Relax,” Nayeon instructed.

“I’m sorry,” Mina muttered. She knew Nayeon was right, but Nayeon didn’t know Jihyo like Mina did. Jihyo was incredibly dangerous, which was why Mina had always felt relieved being on her side. But now, they were forced to become enemies, and the thought of taking on someone who had once been a friend was unsettling. Mina also hated thinking that she’d brought this baggage onto Nayeon and burdened her with yet another force at work trying to take her down.

“What’s the deal with this Jihyo girl, anyway?” Nayeon asked curiously. “When you talk about her your face always scrunches up like that.” She pointed at Mina’s current expression with a cheeky grin.

Mina quickly wiped the expression off her face and pushed Nayeon’s pointed finger out of her face. “We have a lot of history together.”

The two walked in silence for a bit, with Nayeon looking at Mina expectantly. Now was the moment of truth to see if Mina would ever tell Nayeon more nitty, gritty details about her life. Noticing the brown eyes on her, Mina sighed and took a breath.

“Jihyo and I grew up together. We were both trained to join the Defiant ranks. Her parents were part of another one of the founding families. Everything that was expected of me was also expected of her.”

Nayeon put her hands on Mina’s shoulders and began to guide the girl toward an outdoor walkway in the mall that was all but deserted. Mina looked back at Nayeon, feeling those eyes trained on her with curiosity. Normally Mina would be uncomfortable with disclosing much more, but Mina couldn’t help but feel she owed it to Nayeon to be more forthcoming.

“She was always better at accepting how things were than I was though. She was diligent, taking on new missions without question, while I was rebellious and nonconforming. At least, when I was younger I was,” Mina clarified. “I learned to stop asking questions as I grew older, for my own sake. The Defiant believed that physical punishment was the only way to earn true obedience…” Her voice trailed off, and she suddenly looked slightly pained. In response, Nayeon reached for the girls hand and squeezed it.

“Jihyo could swallow all the dark sides of the Defiant while I could barely stomach it,” Mina continued. “She helped me through it all when we trained together. She looked out for me and protected me whenever she could.”

“You were friends, then,” Nayeon offered. “Family, even.” Mina nodded in agreement. “It must be hard for you, knowing she’s the one assigned to bring you back.”

Mina sighed, suddenly stopping in front of a boutique and looking at the expensive clothing inside through the window. “It’s ironic, really. My parents undoubtedly had a hand in that. Perhaps they think she has the best chance of convincing me to rejoin them. They’re right, but even she can’t talk me into going back.”

Nayeon found relief in hearing Mina say that. It seemed that Mina really wanted to be on the run with her. It was one of the best feelings in the world.

“Part of me thinks that Jihyo was hoping I disappeared into the Organization for good, glad that I got away from the Defiant. Another part of me thinks she’s bitter I got out while she’s still stuck in the system. I didn’t get very far away though, did I?”

Nayeon watched the girl beside her, staring inside the store. It was clear Mina wasn’t actually looking at the clothes on the mannequins though, but probably thinking back upon a memory that was enough to let her mind travel away from Nayeon for a bit. Nayeon was patient, letting Mina revel in her memories. She took a step back and surveyed the nearly deserted outdoor strip. After a glance over, she noticed two men sitting on a bench nearby that hadn’t been there before. Though they were both wearing sunglasses, it appeared they were watching Nayeon and Mina.

Nayeon quickly stepped forward and hooked Mina’s arm in her own, ripping her out of the past. “We’ve got company,” Nayeon hissed while pulling Mina away from the store front and back toward the interior part of the mall.

Mina’s somewhat blank expression instantly turned alert. She gritted her teeth as her and Nayeon strode toward the door, closer to a crowd of people that could serve as a buffer between them and the men seemingly following them.

“Two men in shades, tailing us. I can’t tell if they’re Defiant or Organization bounty hunters.”

“Does it matter?” Mina asked. “Either way, we need to get out of here.”

“They ruined a perfectly good day. I was so looking forward to seeing you try on some new outfits and put on a little fashion show for me.” Despite the fact that trained assassins were tailing them, Nayeon cracked a smile.

Mina shot Nayeon a glare but said nothing, causing Nayeon’s smile to grow.

They moved to a more populated area of the mall, where the two men would be more hesitant to make their moves against Mina and Nayeon with people watching. Nayeon and Mina immediately scanned for exits and alternate routes. “We can’t go back to the hotel,” Mina replied. “They probably have people waiting for us there.”

“Predictable,” Nayeon shrugged. “We just need to hail a cab but they may have people posted at each main exit, depending on how important we are to them. We need take care of these clowns behind us and then escape unnoticed.”

Mina was silent, trying to think of an escape plan. Nayeon could practically see the gears in the girl’s head spinning.

“I have an idea,” Nayeon said, finally. “And you may get to put on that fashion show for me after all.” Taking Mina’s hand, Nayeon began to stride confidently toward a major clothing outlet.

“You ready for a makeover?” Nayeon asked, while whisking a few dresses off a clothing rack as she passed by.

“We’re gonna sneak out in disguise?” Mina replied, shaking her head slightly. It felt somewhat ridiculous, but she didn’t really have any other plans to fall back on.

Nayeon nodded with a grin. “Let’s sabotage the guys tailing us in the dressing room, that way they won’t be able to alert the other goons as to what exit we’re leaving from. We have to make it look like we don’t know they’re following us though. What do you think of this dress?” Nayeon held out a cocktail dress in front of her that was sky blue.

Mina dragged her tongue across her top row of teeth as she imagined Nayeon in the dress—it would surely suit her. “It looks nice,” she commented. “It would suit you.”

“It’s your favorite color too,” Nayeon replied, giving Mina a small smile.

Mina’s brow furrowed, momentarily confused. “That’s not my—” she began, but then quickly closed her mouth. She’d forgotten she’d lied about her favorite color months ago! “Oh, right, yes—”

Nayeon sensed Mina’s hesitation and quickly jumped on it. “Sky blue isn’t your favorite color, is it?” she replied in an accusatory manner, raising a single brow. “It’s red.”

As Mina quickly scrambled to attempt to save herself, Nayeon gave the girl a knowing look. “What about that other dress you have there?” Mina asked, reaching for the other hanger Nayeon held while trying to change the subject. Nayeon let Mina hold onto the other dress she had grabbed—it was white and lacey and looked very elegant. “This is pretty,” Mina cooed, although she could feel her cheeks turning red under Nayeon’s intense gaze.

“You lied about your favorite color?” Nayeon gasped and then tisked at Mina. The girls kept moving, making it seem like they were browsing the store in a casual manner.

“No, I—”

“Oh my god,” Nayeon muttered. “You really couldn’t let me be right about that, could you? Are you really that petty?” The thought was so ridiculous that Nayeon threw back her head and laughed.

As Nayeon laughed, Mina crossed her arms and gave Nayeon a death glare. “Listen, Im Nayeon, don’t you dare laugh at me.”

The serious expression on Mina’s face simply made Nayeon laugh more.

“You can’t always be right, I was just trying to prove a point. Your ego needed to be knocked down a bit,” Mina explained. Her face was beat red—even the ear that was sticking out from beneath her hair. “Besides, red is quite a common color so your chances of guessing it are rather high. The fact that you guessed my favorite color on the first try is purely luck.”

Nayeon stepped forward and ruffled Mina’s ginger head with her free hand. Mina grumpily swatted her away. “Stop that,” Mina whined.

“You’re actually adorable when you’re grumpy,” Nayeon said, shooting Mina a mischievous grin. “C’mon now, let’s go try these on, shall we?”

They entered a dressing room in the women’s section and both stepped into the same fitting room. Nayeon hung up both dresses on a hook and the two girls both pulled out their pistols they’d kept stashed away in case of emergencies like this one. Slipping off her shoes, Nayeon quickly moved to the dressing room across the way. Nayeon stood up on a small seat in the room so that her feet were not visible. At a quick glance, with her shoes in the room with Mina, it appeared as though they were both in the same room together. Getting at Nayeon’s plan, Mina gave the older girl a nod before she closed the door to her stall.

After about a minute, both girls heard footsteps and waited in anticipation. There was a knock on Mina’s door. “Alright, time to cut your little shopping spree short,” a man with a gravelly voice said. Hiding slightly behind the open door in her fitting room, Nayeon could see both men she was dealing with clearly. They each were outfitted with pistols themselves and seemed ready to fire if necessary.

“You boys ruined a perfectly good date, you’ll pay for that,” Nayeon said, stepping forward with her gun aimed at the man closest to her. The men spun around, taken off guard. The three of them were in a standoff, with both men aiming at Nayeon and Nayeon keeping trained directly on the man to her right. She couldn’t possibly take both men down, but she could at least take out one of them before they shot her back.

“Where’s your girlfriend, huh?” one of the men taunted. “Hiding in the room behind us?”

Nayeon gritted her teeth but kept her cool. “So who sent you, the Defiant or the Organization? I’d like to have a word with them. Your tailing skills were sloppy—amateur at best. We both spotted you right away. It’s laughable that you two were even let out in the field,” Nayeon tisked.

The comment had the same effect Nayeon had expected—both men were angry now, although they still remained completely focused on aiming their weapons at Nayeon.

“Our order is to bring you both in, alive. Now, you’ll save time and energy for everyone if you just come with us. Our boss wants to have a chat.”

Mina slowly opened her door behind the men while their attention was fully on Nayeon, lifting the base of her gun overhead. She brought it down hard on the man to her right. As the man staggered backward, holding his head in pain, Nayeon kicked him as hard as she could in the groin. He toppled like a domino. Before the other man still standing could react, Mina whacked him on the back of the head with the metal body of her pistol as well. Both men collapsed to the ground, but the one who dropped second was still awake, reaching for the gun he’d dropped. Mina placed her fingers on pressure points on both sides of his neck and pressed down hard. After a few seconds, the man’s eyes closed and both goons were down and out for the count.

“Phew,” Nayeon sighed. “Now let’s change and get out of here, shall we?”

The two girls waited in line a bit impatiently to purchase the dresses Nayeon had picked out, along with some large sun hats and new sunglasses they grabbed (they were assassins, not thieves, at least not when they could help it). Entering a different changing room this time, both girls dressed into their new formal wear, stuffing their old outfits into both of their oversized purses respectively, before stepping out back into the store. With Nayeon’s arm around Mina’s shoulder, the two girls walked outside, past any lingering Defiant or Organization bounty hunters that had been guarding the exit.

They hailed a cab and asked to go to the next city over. It’d be easy to disappear among the large population there. They’d get another hotel room with another queen sized bed. They’d spend a night there and then move onto another city. The cycle would repeat.

For the next few days, Nayeon could tell that something had shifted. It seemed the two girls had finally made it back to the relationship they’d once had. Mina felt indescribably lighter when she was with Nayeon. Despite the fact that the two were on the run and constantly looking over their shoulders, she felt carefree when she locked eyes with the older girl. Mina felt safe having her back, even though she had no right to with the incredible amount of danger they were both in.

Nayeon seemed to take the danger in stride, constantly smiling and only being grumpy when Mina woke her up early in the mornings so they could travel to a new city. Seeing Nayeon’s wide eyes when Mina gently shook her shoulder, only for them to immediately close as Nayeon rolled over and groaned, always made Mina laugh.

“We can’t all be morning people,” Nayeon grumbled as the two checked out of their hotel.

“I’m not a morning person either, I assure you,” Mina replied, after she handed the receptionist back their room keys. “I would much rather be in bed right now, but I’ve learned to not complain about what is necessary. The Defiant and the Organization hunters on our heels aren’t spending the weekends sleeping in, I promise you that.” Mina’s voice had a playful tone as she gave Nayeon a small yet smug smile.

“If they were smart they would sleep in and save themselves the energy,” Nayeon shrugged. “Their loss.”

The two girls headed out to the car that was waiting for them. The driver opened the door and nodded at them as they both stepped inside. Moving from city to city had become like a dance to Mina and Nayeon—there was a tempo to it. They could never spend too long in one place, at least not for awhile. Mina longed for the time when they could settle down again, although traveling across South America had been quite an adventure.

“You know, I’d wake up at any time of day for you.” Nayeon gave Mina the cheesiest grin imaginable, causing Mina to roll her eyes. “I might be a little grumpy but, for you it’s worth it.” Nayeon blew an air kiss at Mina, who played along by catching the invisible kiss and throwing it out the window. “Wow, I see how it is,” Nayeon whined, faking offense.

Mina giggled and placed her left hand on Nayeon’s knee, giving it a light squeeze. Even that small contact was enough to make Nayeon hold her breath.

The next hotel they checked into was slightly more upscale—with a luxury shower and a great view of the city from a wide balcony located at the back of their bedroom. Both girls set down their suitcases, not even bothering to unpack, before they collapsed on the neatly made bed and smiled at each other.

They went out to a local market to get some groceries and some dinner for the night—they were planning on staying in this hotel for three days if they could. Upon returning to the hotel with bags in hand, Nayeon gasped and startled Mina, who nearly dropped the bags she was holding. For an assassin, she could be quite jumpy.

“We forgot something to drink for later tonight!” Nayeon exclaimed. And by drink, Nayeon meant some sort of alcoholic beverage. The two girls didn’t drink often, mostly wine here and there so they could constantly stay on their toes, but Nayeon felt that they deserved to celebrate another night of survival. “I’m going to go down to the lobby to see if I can buy us some wine, if not I’ll go out again and grab something quickly.”

Although Mina wasn’t particularly in the mood to drink, she didn’t want to burst Nayeon’s excited bubble. Nayeon was practically glowing today, despite being grumpy earlier in the morning. Mina gave Nayeon a smile and nodded. “Okay. If you go out, be careful.”

“Of course!” Nayeon assured as she bounded over to Mina, kissed her on the cheek and raced back out the door into the hallway.

Luckily, the hotel did have bottles of fine wine for sale. Nayeon, after a few minutes of debating on which bottles to buy, settled on some merlot for herself and some chardonnay for Mina.

After taking the elevator back up to the hotel room, Nayeon opened the door slowly with two bottles of wine in her hand. “Look what I got—” her breath caught in her throat as she saw a familiar girl standing over Mina, who appeared to be passed out on the edge of the bed.

Jihyo looked up with an annoyed expression at the sight of Nayeon’s entrance. In her hand was a piece of white cloth, which Nayeon assumed to be soaked in chloroform. Before Nayeon could so much as drop the wine and reach for her gun tucked beneath her oversized shirt, Jihyo had her own gun aimed directly on Nayeon.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t hurt her,” Jihyo assured, glancing over at Mina’s limp body. “She’s just going to be asleep for awhile. I’m going to take her with me now. It’s time for her to come home. You on the other hand…” her voice trailed off.

Though Jihyo sounded relaxed, her eyes were focused and sharpened to the point where Nayeon could practically feel Jihyo’s gaze like a knife against her throat.

“I didn’t want to have to drag her back like this. I told you that you’d get hurt if you stuck around. Yet, here we are. I really wish you would’ve taken my advice.”

“You don’t wanna do this,” Nayeon replied, voice as cold as ice. She stood up taller, attempting to appear more threatening despite the fact that she only had two wine bottles in her hands. “This is not what Mina wants, and you care about her, don’t you?”

Jihyo’s face softened slightly as she followed Nayeon’s gaze to the unconscious girl on the bed. Mina looked surprisingly peaceful, with her lips slightly parted and her head tilted to the side. “This isn’t what I want, but it’s not my call to make. You’d never understand—”

“She told me about you, Jihyo,” Nayeon said, stepping forward slightly. She slowly set down both bottles of wine and held up both hands in surrender. “You’re like family to her. You protected her when she couldn’t defend herself and she’s so thankful to you for that.”

“Don’t talk about her like you actually know who she is!” Jihyo snapped—her eyes were blazing and her mouth was twisted into a sneer. “You don’t know anything about her, not like I do!” Her finger tightened dangerously around the trigger of her gun and Nayeon flinched.

“You’re right, I don’t,” Nayeon spit out, trying to calm Jihyo down. “You spent years with her, I’ve only spent months. But I know her well enough to know you bringing her back home is condemning her to miserable existence. She hated everything about the Defiant—they tried to turn her into something she wasn’t...she isn’t. Please, don’t force her to become that person again. Let her be herself. Let her be Mina,” Nayeon begged.

She knew her life was literally hanging in the balance of Jihyo’s decision. Nayeon was expendable—nothing more than an obstacle standing in the way of Jihyo’s mission. If Nayeon was killed, there’d be nothing stopping Jihyo from bringing Mina back to the Defiant headquarters in Korea. She’d be on a plane tonight, headed straight there. Nayeon couldn’t bear the thought of Mina having to face her parents after all that—she couldn’t bear the thought of Mina being forced to kill again…

“Jihyo, listen to me!” Nayeon pleaded. “I...I love her. I love this girl so much. I’m not sure if that means anything to you, but if there’s any part of you that’s still human maybe you’ll find some sympathy in your heart. If you have to kill me fine, then so be it, but let Mina go. Let her live as close to a normal life as she can. She deserves better than this.”

Jihyo cried out in frustration but she kept her gun locked on Nayeon. “Don’t you understand? This is the only way. Mina’s fate could go one of two ways. Either I take her back home now and she lives out the rest of her life doing the Defiant’s bidding, but she’s alive. Or, I fail my mission, and her parents send out more assassins given the order to put her down. They’re giving her one last chance to come home, but their patience is wearing thin. She’s a liability for the entire group, especially with you in the picture. They don’t care that she’s their daughter. They will not hesitate to end her.”

Jihyo sighed, shaking her head as if to clear it, before slowly sitting down on the bed beside Mina. “I wish there was another option. If there was, I’d take it, for her.”

“Come with us,” Nayeon suggested. “You can run away with us, we’ll run from the Defiant and the Organization all the way to Alaska if we have to! You can be free of them, too.”

Jihyo smiled a harsh smile at that. “Are you really that naive? You can run all you want, but you will be found. It’s only a matter of time. You’re just putting off the inevitable.”

“Then so be it!” Nayeon declared. “We’re all gonna die anyway, so you might as well live your life how you want to before the final curtain call. You know, even though we’ve been on the run, I’ve never been this happy in my life. It almost feels like freedom. Almost.”

“This is all I’ve ever been good at. This is all I know,” Jihyo replied, sadly, gesturing to the gun in her hand. “My chance for a normal life is nonexistent. I’m happy Mina got to spend some time with you but that time is over now. Maybe eventually, she’ll learn to forgive me for this.” Jihyo stood up again, looking at Nayeon levelly.

“Hey,” Nayeon cried. “Please don’t do this. I won’t let you do this to her.”

“You can’t stop me,” Jihyo sighed with a monotone voice. “I’m sorry.”

She fired two times, directly at Nayeon’s chest. Both bullets were deadly quiet due to the gun’s silencer, meaning it wouldn’t disturb any of the other hotel guests. Nayeon attempted to move out of the way, but couldn’t avoid the speeding bullets. One punctured her in the right side of her chest, the other her arm. She cried out, falling backward onto the ground. She’d been shot before, but the feeling was never pleasant—especially not when a bullet clearly had punctured one of her lungs. She was about to yell out to Jihyo that she was a bad shot, but the pain was too enormous for her to even form the words on her lips.

On the ground, Nayeon could see Jihyo tuck her gun into her back pocket, clicking on the safety, before gently lifting Mina off the bed and carrying her toward the sliding glass door and the balcony.

The sliding glass door and balcony reminded Nayeon of the house on the ocean. The hypnotic sound of waves lapping against the shore. Mina standing beside the water, looking out at it in silence. Reaching out at something Nayeon couldn't see—something out of reach.

Nayeon turned her head so she could get a last glimpse of Mina’s face. How she so desperately wanted to see Mina’s eyes for one last time, but they were closed. “Mina, I…” Her voice was strangely quiet and sounded far away. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, dripping down her cheeks just as she could feel the blood pooling out of her back and right arm. She attempted to sit up but was hit with agonizing pain, which made it too hard to even breathe. She held her breath and watched as Jihyo handed Mina off to someone waiting on a balcony on a floor below. It seemed the Defiant had taken use of the balconies and ledges outside. They had an extraction team prepared for this moment with delicacy.

Jihyo gave Nayeon one last look—was that sympathy?—before she jumped down off the balcony.

So the dream had violently ended, just as Nayeon had feared. Nayeon was alone and bleeding out...and Mina was gone.


	4. Enemy

“So...what do you think?” Mina asked, leaning with her elbows on the kitchen table, gauging the face of the girl seated directly across from her in anticipation.

With a spoonful of the stew in her mouth, Nayeon let the flavors wash over her tongue before she swallowed the thick broth. There were vegetables in the stew, along with chicken—it was some recipe Mina had found in a cooking book and had been dying to try out. Insisting on making the stew entirely herself, Mina had busied herself in the kitchen while Nayeon played around on the piano, pretending like she knew how to read sheet music.

Nayeon smacked her lips together, drawing out the moment. She knew Mina was hanging on her every word, and Nayeon was enjoying every moment of it. The younger girl’s eyes were wide and puppy-like, and while there was a bit of nervousness, there was also hope written across her face.

“Could use a bit more salt…” Nayeon began, watching Mina’s face fall slightly, before grinning devilishly. “I’m kidding, it’s brilliant!”

Mina pouted slightly before her frown turned into a shy smile. “Really? You’re not just saying that?” Practically on the edge of her seat, Mina seemed to be inching closer and closer to Nayeon, across the table.

“I’m serious. It’s got a nice kick to it, too. Not too spicy, but enough that it satisfies my taste buds. I’ll give it a 9 out of 10.”

Mina’s mouth twitched at that—it was close to perfection, but not actually perfect. She took a spoonful of the stew herself and focused hard on the texture and taste. “What has room for improvement? Next week I can buy the same ingredients and try it again, unless you can think of something else that could benefit the recipe?”

Nayeon rolled her eyes playfully. “God, does everything really have to be perfect with you? A 9 out of 10 is pretty damn good, you know. 10/10 is solely reserved for my mom’s cooking. Her kimchi was amazing.” Her voice was light and teasing—causing Mina to scoff and passive aggressively take another sip of her stew, this time chewing on a piece of chicken that had been caught in her spoonful.

“I want it to be as perfect as possible,” Mina replied levelly. “Perfection is good. It’s what we should all strive for—”

“Perfection is overrated.” Nayeon cut the girl off, stirring her stew with her spoon absentmindedly. “Quirks are what make something interesting. If something is perfect, it’s boring—”

“We’re talking about a food dish, Nayeon. Not a person. There’s always room for improvement when it comes to cooking.” Mina reached for her glass of white wine and sipped on it while glaring across the table.

“You’re doing that thing again,” Nayeon set down her spoon, leaning against the kitchen table with her forearms, “where you fixate on something and obsess over it.”

Mina’s brow furrowed at that and she crossed her arms. “Is wanting to get a recipe right really an obsession?” the girl asked.

“Mina, you got the recipe right. You nailed it—just like you nail everything you try. It doesn’t have to be any better than this. You can relax, because you don’t need to worry about being judged anymore. Not by me, anyway. I’ll eat anything you make for me and I know I’ll love it. And not just because it was made by you, but because you’re a great cook.” Nayeon reached across the table for Mina’s hand.

“I just wanted it to be perfect for you,” Mina said softly, looking down at the surface of the stew, which was calm unlike the water lapping against the shore of the beach outside. “But I’ll admit I like everything to be 100%.”

“Really? I didn’t notice,” Nayeon replied sarcastically, giving Mina a wicked grin.

“I don’t mean to be so intense all the time.” Mina released Nayeon’s hand and took another sip of her wine, looking slightly embarrassed. “It was just how I was raised—to ensure everything I did was perfect. Even the smallest of movements and techniques were scrutinized. I’m sure you experienced something similar.”

“Training was the most brutal part of my time with the Organization, but after a few years I became more relaxed. I began to use more unconventional methods but still got the job done.”

“I’m trying to...not fixate on doing things perfectly so much. Like with the piano…” Mina’s voice trailed off.

“And you’re doing great. It’ll take time to unlearn that habit. But in the meantime, you don’t have to act like Miss Perfect 24/7.”

“Who says I’m acting?” Mina said with a smirk. This time it was Nayeon who scoffed, causing Mina to laugh. “Now c’mon, let’s go outside and eat—maybe the sunset will be extra pretty tonight!” Mina picked up her bowl and wine glass, standing up and heading for the back door of the house. She opened the door and an eruption of sunlight burst through the quiet home, outlining Mina’s silhouette in gold. “Well, aren’t you coming?” she asked.

It was in little moments like these—moments of normalcy with a hint of inexplicable magic—that Nayeon could sense how truly blessed she was. Maybe it was the way the sunlight shone through the door, illuminating Mina like an angel, or the lapping of the ocean waves outside, or even the bowl of stew in front of her, making her insides feel warm and full with each taste. She lifted her red wine in one hand, preparing to chase after Mina.

“Hold on,” Nayeon replied, but her voice came out raspy and wrong. A bright light still engulfed the room, but it wasn’t the same as the light from the sun. It was artificial and harsh, not warm and enveloping. She was no longer sitting at the kitchen table, Nayeon realized, but was laying on her back on something soft. There was a girl in front of her eyes, staring down at her, although it wasn’t Mina, but rather someone she didn’t recognize.

“There she is,” the girl murmured. “A survivor, just like I predicted.”

Nayeon tried to move but her entire body ached. Even the slightest of movements caused immense pain to her chest and arm.

“I suggest you stay put. You need to take some time to heal. You received two pretty nasty gunshot wounds—one to the chest and the other to your arm. Your right lung was punctured and began to fill with blood. But we were able to patch you up before things got too bad. You’re lucky you were hit where you were, and not to the head or left side of your chest.”

A hot red image flashed across Nayeon’s vision—the sting of a memory. Jihyo holding a gun up, pointed at her. She pulled the trigger and Nayeon dropped. Then Jihyo picked up Mina and took her away. Mina...MIN.

“Where’s Mina?” Nayeon asked, wildly looking around at the room she was currently in. It looked like a hospital room of sorts, but was even more bland than usual, and a bit more hi-tech.

“Myoui Mina, a Defiant spy among Organization ranks. Yes, we took quite an interest in her ever since she took off with you. She knows the inner workings of both factions. To put it plainly, she’s a goldmine of knowledge.”

“Where is she?” Nayeon repeated—speaking as loudly as possible despite the constant pressure settled on her chest that made taking each breath rather painful.

“Back with her family, we assume. Either alive or dead, we don’t know.”

“Who are you?” Nayeon asked, curling her hands into fists. “Where did you take me?”

The girl stepped back out of the harsh light, giving Nayeon a better look at her. She looked to be about Nayeon’s age, with blonde hair that fell just above her shoulders, and a small face that radiated kindness despite their cold surroundings.

“My name is Jeongyeon, and you’ve fallen into the hands of Omega.”

The Omega was an elusive faction—small in numbers but good at disappearing without a trace. They left practically no tracks, but their work was easily identifiable. They were known for orchestrating large scale assassinations of major figures around the world. That’s all Nayeon knew about them, really. She’d certainly never seen a member of their faction before, nor talked with one.

“I know you must have a lot of questions…” the Omega agent, Jeongyeon, stated. But, before she could finish her statement, Nayeon was on her feet, despite the incredible amount of pain she was in. The entire room seemed to be shaking, but she managed to run for the door. Before she could reach it, Jeongyeon was there in a flash, twisting the wrist of her uninjured arm and sending Nayeon to her knees. Nayeon yelped and sucked in air, trying her best to not let any tears fall from her eyes.

“Are you an idiot or something? I just told you that you need time to heal. It isn’t optional. C’mon now, let’s get you back in bed,” Jeongyeon replied, unusually gently despite the fact that Nayeon had just tried to escape. She had to practically lift Nayeon to her feet and carry the girl back to her bed—that was when Nayeon noticed the Omega girl had a good few inches over her. “You couldn’t make a break for it even if you tried. You’d just collapse. That’s what a couple of bullet wounds will do to you.”

Nayeon gritted her teeth, crying out in frustration. “Alright, you got me,” she muttered. “Now why am I still alive?”

“You’re only alive because you could be of some use to us,” Jeongyeon shrugged. “We want Mina, and you may be able to get to her. If she’s still alive, that is.”

“Go to hell,” Nayeon spit out, sinking back into the bed and her pillow.

“Ah, a sweet talker, I see,” Jeongyeon quipped.

“I won’t help you find her just so you can eradicate her once you’ve extracted everything useful she knows.”

Jeongyeon crossed her arms and looked down at Nayeon in amusement. “And you think we’d kill that valuable of an asset? You and Mina both are good at what you do. It’d be a shame to waste that talent.”

Nayeon rolled her eyes. “Save the ‘we’re the least evil of the three factions’ BS, for someone much more naive than me, will you? You’re no different from the Organization or the Defiant. You chew people up and spit them out, same as all the rest.”

“I never said we were any different—we just don’t dispose of assets so carelessly. We’re not wasteful, you see. Not when we could use them later.”

While Jeongyeon was talking, Nayeon did another scan of the room, looking for any other escape routes or weapons she could use to take the Omega girl out—but the room seemed prepped for a patient who was a former assassin—there was nothing either remotely sharp nor heavy. It was as if things were child-proofed.

“Even if you wanted me to find Mina, I wouldn’t be able to. She’s been brought back into the Defiant fold, and they’ll probably never let her out of their sights again.” Thinking about Mina being back with her parents—facing their wrath—was nearly as painful as the lingering pain from her lung-punctured wound. Nayeon swallowed roughly and squeezed her eyes shut. “She’s gone.”

“We want to end the Defiant,” Jeongyeon stated simply, as if it were a casual phrase to throw around. “They’ve gotten in our way too many times. The Organization can at least respect our territory, but the Defiant is encroaching on it much too swiftly. We think Mina can be the key to bringing them down. She’s a traitor who won’t slip themselves a little, blue pill before being captured and interrogated. Those are quite rare to come by, because the Defiant are bred to be loyal. We’ve been trying to infiltrate the Defiant but have been quite unsuccessful, truthfully. Our operatives tend to turn on us for them.”

Nayeon barked out a laugh, shaking her head. “Are you mad? You’re talking about ending the Defiant like they’re a minor inconvenience. They’re old and powerful, and have roots in nearly every powerhouse around the world.”

“An insider might be just what we need to get the dirt on the major players in the faction. Cut the head off the beast and the body will fall.”

“Maybe so, but this isn’t a normal beast you’re dealing with—it’s a hydra. Cut off one head and two more will grow back in its place,” Nayeon warned.

Jeongyeon sat down on the edge of Nayeon’s bed, turning to study her. The two girls faced off—unblinking. Since Jeongyeon was here, briefing her, Nayeon assumed the girl must’ve been an important member of the Omega with an impressive rank, despite appearing to be young. She was surely trained and disciplined, but if Nayeon was in full working order she was sure she could at least incapacitate the girl so she could escape.

But if she did escape, where would she even go? Mina was gone and Nayeon would never see her again. A part of her wished the bullets had killed her—because she couldn’t possibly imagine what her life would be like now. There was suddenly no purpose to her struggles with Mina gone. She supposed the only thing left to do would be to survive, after all the Organization was surely still looking for her. She didn’t want to fall into their hands again.

“You’re thinking about escaping,” Jeongyeon observed, watching the gears in Nayeon’s head turn. “But you’re also thinking: what’s the point without her.”

Letting rage take over for a moment, Nayeon lunged forward, ready to grab Jeongyeon by the collar—but again, Jeongyeon proved to be faster and Nayeon’s injury slowed her down. Jeongyeon caught both of Nayeon’s wrists and pushed her back down against the bed, holding her there. “Your useless attempts at overpowering me despite being injured would be admirable if you didn’t look so pathetic,” Jeongyeon hissed.

Nayeon thrashed against the girl’s strength but eventually gave up and screamed in annoyance. Huffing to catch her breath, Nayeon sank back down against the pillow on the bed and gritted her teeth.

“Now, if you’ll stop acting like a child, I can give you a proposal you might be interested in,” Jeongyeon announced, releasing Nayeon’s wrists. “If you help us find Mina and bring her back to us, once we learn all we need from her, we’ll let you both go.”

Nayeon snorted, shaking her head. “You really think I’ll believe that?”

“I know it’s hard to believe, but this would be a great service to us. With the Defiant gone, we’ll have more business coming our way. Everything circles back to money and power, doesn’t it?” Jeongyeon looked at Nayeon knowingly. Nayeon didn’t trust the girl one bit.

“Say I agree to this clearly bogus proposal—I wouldn’t even know where to start with finding Mina. All I know is that her family lives in Korea, but they might not even be there anymore.”

“We have a tip as to where she was taken, from a trusted source. We can help you get her back, but you’re the only one who can convince her to trust us.”

“But I don’t trust you,” Nayeon stated plainly.

“You don’t have to trust us, but do you really have any other choice?”

Nayeon looked around a bit desperately for one last escape—any way out of this mess. But, she’d been dealt these cards and couldn’t exactly trade her deck. “Alright, fine. I mean, what do I have to lose anyway?”

  
  
  


Mina was on a plane. That much she knew when she first came to. Her vision was blurred and out of focus, and her mind felt incredibly groggy and slow, but she could smell the staleness of the air that often came with flying. She took a moment to collect her thoughts before she was on red alert. Upon instinct, she tried to stand but found her arms and legs were both restricted—bound with something that didn’t let her move. It was then she realized she was on her back, strapped down to some sort of hospital gurney.

There was instant panic. After all, the last thing Mina remembered was sitting down on the hotel bed. Nayeon had left to go get some wine that they’d forgotten while going out shopping. Then there was only darkness.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” a familiar voice stated—it was a soft and melodic voice Mina had once loved, but now dreaded.

Mina turned her head to see Jihyo sitting in a seat nearby, staring at her with an unreadable expression.

“We’re taking you home now, where you belong.”

“What did you do to her?” Mina asked briskly, glaring at the older girl. Jihyo remained silent and turned away, looking toward the front of the plane. “Jihyo, what did you do to her?” Mina repeated. Her voice was as sharp as a knife—and yet she was panicking at Jihyo’s silence. Her stomach was free falling from the altitude they were at, not thinking of any specific explanation for her current predicament, but just feeling a vague sense of overwhelming dread.

Jihyo turned to look back at Mina with apologetic eyes, and the anticipation was tearing Mina apart. “Just tell me what you did to her, goddammit!” Mina shouted, feeling tears already stinging her eyes.

“I did what I had to do,” Jihyo replied with a monotone voice. Mina knew that was coming and yet...and yet…

“What is it you had to do, Jihyo?” Mina whispered. “Say it.” She already knew the answer, but a part of her needed to hear it be said out loud, instead of being murmured by the voices in her head.

“I killed her. I shot her point blank in the chest and watched her fall to her knees.”

There was a wave of devastation so intense that it rendered Mina speechless. She could only stare at the ceiling and count backwards from ten to stop herself from screaming.

10...9...8…

You’re just a damaged little thing, aren’t you?

7...6...5…

I only kept running because I wanted to see if you’d chase after me.

4...3...2…

I feel like I’m living in a dream now, here with you. But that scares me, because dreams aren’t meant to come true.

1…

Nayeon was dead.

No amount of physical pain could compare to what Mina was feeling now. She could only squeeze her eyes shut and let tears fall silently down her face.

As Jihyo stared at Mina, she could feel her own heart breaking. It’s what I had to do, Jihyo reminded herself. Besides, she knew there was a chance Nayeon was actually alive, but Mina couldn’t know that. Purposefully not shooting the girl anywhere too fatal, Jihyo decided to give her a chance. She knew someone else had been tailing Mina and Nayeon, hiding in the shadows—another player in the game besides the Organization or the Defiant. The Omega were largely unpredictable, after all. Who knows what they would do with Nayeon, if they wanted her.

“Mina, listen to me,” Jihyo stated, after a few minutes of quiet. “When we return, you need to vow your loyalty to the Defiant once again. You need to make your parents and the other elders believe that your little rebellion was a mistake. I don’t care what you have to do—get down on your knees and beg, maybe—but if you don’t, they could kill you. This is your only chance at survival.”

“I was surviving. More than that—I was actually living for once in my life. But you took that away.” Mina’s voice was a shell of what it once was—bitter and broken. “I won’t pledge my loyalty to them again, I’d rather die.”

“Mina,” Jihyo hissed. “Don’t be so stupid.”

Mina turned her head away, straining her neck to stare out the window. The plane—or rather, private jet most likely—was shrouded by the clouds in the sky. “I can’t live like that again, not after getting a taste of freedom. I won’t be a pawn anymore—certainly not my parents’ or anyone else’s.”

“Do you see what she did to you?” Jihyo replied. “Talking nonsense into your head until it stuck. Making you soft. There is no freedom, not for us. The sooner you accept that, the better.”

Jihyo’s harsh words were cruel but Mina was too numb to feel anything—they ricocheted off her like her skin was bullet proof. “You should’ve just killed me too. I would’ve rather it been you than them…”

Standing up with her hands clenched into fists, Jihyo was seething. “How dare you even say something like that? Like everything I’ve ever done wasn’t always for you! You hating me is a small price to pay for saving your life—I’ll live with it, gladly. But I won’t let you throw your life away because of some girl.”

“The girl who made me feel human again...the girl that I love.” Not even bothering to correct herself to the past tense—because her love was very much still there, and would linger for the rest of her life, no doubt—Mina let a few more tears spill from her eyes.

“Mina, I truly am sorry. But before you decide what to do in front of the elders, remember there are people who care about you. I care about you so much it hurts. And don’t forget about Tzuyu…”

At the sound of Tzuyu’s name, Mina’s chest stopped rising and falling. “How is she?” Mina asked, softly. “Is she okay?”

“I’ve been keeping an eye on her in your absence,” Jihyo assured, somewhat relieved to see some semblance of the old Mina she knew poking through. “She’s hanging in there, like we all are. She’s improving in every field—she might even be a better assassin than you now.” There was a bit of lightheartedness to Jihyo’s voice, although she couldn’t bring herself to smile.

Mina almost thanked Jihyo before she caught herself—no, she wouldn’t let herself be grateful to the girl who killed Nayeon. She leaned her head back against the gurney she was strapped to and spent the rest of the flight in a bit of delirious sleep and silence.

  
  


The healing process took much longer than Nayeon would’ve liked. Stuck in bed, Nayeon grew antsy, often attempting to wander out into the halls, only to be escorted back to her room by a guard. “I’m DYING of boredom in there!” Nayeon whined the next time she saw Jeongyeon.

Jeongyeon couldn’t help but chuckle at the pouty expression on the older girl’s face. Here was a deadly assassin, complaining about being bored. But, in Nayeon’s defense, the room did lack anything to keep her mentally occupied. All Nayeon could do was sit and think about how Mina was doing—being back with her parents and the rest of the Defiant assassins. Were they hurting her? Was she even alive?

All this thinking was driving Nayeon mad.

Was Mina thinking of her too?

Jeongyeon came back with some magazines and books. “This is all I could do,” the girl shrugged, setting them on Nayeon’s bedside table.

“Ah, thank you!” Nayeon cried in relief. Finally, something to stimulate her brain. At the little house by the ocean, they hadn’t had any sort of technology to keep them occupied other than a large TV with basic cable, so she was used to reading to pass the time.

“So, do you have a plan to get to Mina yet?” Nayeon replied, delicately picking up a magazine and placing it on her bed in front of her.

“We know her potential location—where the Myoui family lives, along with a few other founding families of the Defiant. It’s a headquarters of sorts. Their security looks airtight, but we’re working on a way in.”

“Isn’t that your specialty? Sneaking into places you’re not wanted?” Nayeon teased, leaning forward and sitting criss-crossed on the bed.

Jeongyeon remained straight faced, hiding any sort of amusement she may or may not have had. “We have our ways.”

“The Omega—so mysterious. Are all the agents like you? Pretty young things? For some reason, I’ve been running into a lot of good looking assassins these days.” Her tone was lighthearted, but felt a bit forced the more she spoke. Truthfully, she was thinking about Mina. Mina in her summer dresses, and her old-fashioned bathing suits and her oversized sweaters that went down to her knees.

She missed Mina very much.

Jeongyeon seemed to be able to sense this just by noticing Nayeon’s eyes beginning to cloud over. “You’ll see her again soon.” How is it that Jeongyeon seemed to be able to read her thoughts so well? “In about a week or so, you should be able to get out of bed. Once you’re at full functionality again, we’ll be prepared for an extraction mission.”

“And I’ll get her back. She’ll say what she needs to say and we’ll both be on our merry way, right?” Nayeon’s eyes bore into Jeongyeon—searching for any bit of guilt or doubt behind the girl’s collected expression—hoping to catch the girl in a lie. But there was only the same stare she’d given Nayeon the entire time—one that portrayed honesty.

“That’s right, you’ll be free.”

Free. What a magical, mythical word. How Nayeon yearned for it, but knew she could never escape the shackles she was bound to. She’d given up her freedom when she’d joined the Organization. There was no going back. That’s how she knew Jeongyeon’s proposal was too good to be true, but she’d deal with that when the time came. All that mattered now was getting Mina away from the Defiant, even if that meant Nayeon had to sell her soul to the devil—a devil in the guise of a friendly Omega agent.

  
  
  


As soon as Mina and Jihyo arrived back at the Defiant headquarters—an expansive and quiet fenced in neighborhood full of mansions and training facilities in a more rural part of the country—a sense of dread overtook Mina. Jihyo practically had to push the younger girl along because she was dragging her feet. Mina had already tried to escape on numerous occasions, earning her a shove from a faceless Defiant assassin sporting a cape and mask.

“Don’t you dare lay a hand on her!” Jihyo had shouted. Despite her petite frame and youth, Jihyo had a very high ranking among the Defiant. All the children of the founding families were given an elite status by nature, however, Jihyo had further climbed the ranks with her dutiful personality and incredible talent. “Just tighten her restraints.” The assassins traveling with Jihyo and Mina did as they were told, with the rope around Mina’s wrists tightening to the point of causing a dull pain as its edges cut into Mina’s skin.

There was a meeting called in a room in the largest mansion in the area, where Mina would be placed on trial before all the highest ranking Defiant officials—including her own parents. They would decide her fate as a deserter. Mina knew the price to pay for her betrayal would be high—it may even cost her life.

So be it, Mina thought. I’m tired of living this miserable existence. No, she didn’t want to die, but somehow facing death seemed more enticing than being alone and on the run without her.

How cliche, Mina commented. When did my life become so Shakespearean? Here I am, ready to throw it all away for a girl.

Not just any girl though, Mina reminded herself. Nayeon.

Walking into the dimly lit room, Mina was surrounded by judgmental eyes. The mark of the Defiant were their masks and dark cloaks—but unlike the Organization, their masks did not cover their entire face, but only the nose and mouth. The eyes were left exposed, boring into their targets with focus and fury. Much attention was paid to the eyes, because it was believed they conveyed secrets underneath.

When Mina first met Nayeon, seeing her face without the Organization mask, the first thing she was drawn to was the girl’s eyes. They looked determined and strangely honest, jaded but clinging onto some unseen hope. Mina had decided to trust the girl then, and her choice was quickly affirmed after the following few days. You could learn everything you needed to know about someone if you simply looked at their eyes.

Among those sitting in the large room was Tzuyu—Mina found the younger girl almost instantly. Her long, dark hair was tied back and she was sitting with perfect posture beside her parents. Her cloak, embroidered with the dark red from her family crest, was clearly visible. It was a sign of a high ranking—only members of the Defiant with impressive talent and potential were allowed to stylize their cloaks.

“Myoui Mina of the Myoui family, the right hand of the Defiant, you are before us today on account of the following charges: desertion of your mission, ghosting communications, joining Organization ranks and colluding against Defiant forces. The penalty for your actions shall be decided by the counsel before you. Do you have anything to say before your fate is discussed?”

Mina straightened her back and lifted her head, levelly facing the elders, including her parents. She had played with a speech around in her head for hours, struggling to think of what could possibly be her final statement to her parents and former colleagues.

“I ran from the Defiant in the only way I could—through the Organization. I gave myself to them to destroy my ties here. When they had no more use for me anymore, they sent assassins to terminate me, so I ran again—but this time I was not alone. My time with this girl, away from the oaths I’d sworn, was the closest thing to freedom I’ve ever felt. Ever since I was a child, I was told that love is a cage. It binds and destroys. Love is an assassin’s greatest weakness. But I stand here before you today knowing that love is the most valuable freedom of all. Love can be our strongest weapon.”

Tzuyu was looking at Mina with an unreadable expression—the sharp angles of her face were highlighted in shadow. It made her look almost sinister, but Mina knew the girl’s true, warm nature buried beneath. After all, among the Defiant, it was all about appearances.

“So you admit to each condemnation?”

Mina swallowed. “Yes.” Her voice didn’t waiver or show any fear.

There were a few murmured words among the people in the room.

Loyalty was bred into the Defiant—the fact that Mina had severed that loyalty so easily was surely something the counsel would not overlook. Everyone had known that Mina had struggled with earlier missions during her youth, but she had learned to put on the mask of a good soldier, unquestioning and determined. Before long, Mina had rose up in the ranks along with Jihyo and everyone forgot the scared girl she once was.   
  
Her disappearance into the Organization had been unexpected, and even tarnished the Myoui name. Mina was glad she didn’t have to face her parents individually now, but their cold glares told her all she needed to know—she was dead to them, simply a head filled with valuable information they didn’t want to fall into the wrong hands and nothing more.  
  
That meant one of two things: they would let the information she knew about the Defiant die with her, or keep her as a prisoner until she died.  
  
Either option didn’t sound very appealing, but Mina still preferred the first one. Perhaps they knew that death would be a mercy. Maybe they’d make an example of her...  
  
Beside her, Mina couldn’t help but notice Jihyo’s unsteady breath as they waited in anticipation. Mina simply remained silent, unbothered by the next few words that would be announced:  
  
“Myoui Mina, to pay for your crimes against the Defiant, we hereby sentence you to confinement in the Barrens without release.”  
  
She was a prisoner, then. No doubt she would be subject to torment—mentally broken until she could be welded into a loyal dog for the Defiant once again. Biting her tongue until she felt blood, Mina squeezed her eyes shut and attempted to control her breathing. She could not afford to show weakness now.   
  
Upon opening her eyes, Mina took in Tzuyu’s sympathetic stare—this was the Tzuyu she knew. The younger girl could still not completely mask her emotions.   
  
The guards behind Mina pulled back on her restraints, hard, dragging her out of the dark room. Jihyo took her bow and exited behind Mina.   
  
The trek to the Barrens was silent, with only the scuffling of feet as background noise. The Barrens were named as such because they were exactly that: excruciatingly bare and devoid of life beside the prisoners themselves. They were void of anything besides a lumpy mattress, toilet and a small slit in the wall in which food would be slipped through on a tray. Mina had been here once before after failing her first mission, unable to kill another human being. She didn’t make that mistake again.  
  
“If you do everything you’re told and swallow Defiant rules, you’ll be out of here eventually,” Jihyo whispered to Mina. “You’re alive, that’s all that matters.”  
  
As the two guards pushed Mina into the dimly lit cell, one of ten in the Barrens, she stared back at Jihyo hollowly. “You should have killed me when you had the chance.”

  
  
  
  
  


Nayeon could finally walk again, but she still felt like a prisoner in the Omega facility. She was limited as to where she could go, and despite being curious, she didn’t want to ruin the chance they were giving her to find Mina again.

But, Nayeon was growing antsy. She wanted to fly back to Korea, blindly searching for Mina in any way she could. She made this known to the only girl she’d seen besides a few nurses in the facility. Jeongyeon would mutter something about patience not being an Organization virtue before locking Nayeon in her room once again.

Meanwhile, Nayeon tried her best to regain the strength she’d lost from being stuck in bed for so long—this meant an exhausting amount of sit-ups, push ups, lunges, and endless pacing around the halls she was allowed to go into. Despite not liking to workout, when Nayeon found the right motivation she could bring herself to do it regularly. Right now, she had great motivation. She had to be on her A game if she wanted to help break Mina out of the Defiant.

“Be careful not to reopen your wounds,” Jeongyeon warned, walking in on Nayeon with her feet pushed against the wall, doing crunches.

“I’ll be fine,” Nayeon scoffed—but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t still sore from the surgeries that she underwent.

Jeongyeon had learned in the short time they’d know each other, that Nayeon was stubborn and refused to take any sort of advice. That didn’t stop Jeongyeon from continuing to nag though—a thoughtful and caring sort of nag. Nayeon needed someone to look out for her best interests, even if Nayeon herself didn’t believe that Jeongyeon was actually on her side.

A week later, Jeongyeon brought word back that Mina was being held as a prisoner there—which would make things even harder for them to get her out. How exactly Jeongyeon got this information, Nayeon didn’t know, but she didn’t question it. There would be guards surrounding the prison, but it was nothing a trained assassin couldn’t handle. The Omega were perfectly capable of getting Mina out, but they had to do so carefully. They wouldn’t be afforded any second chances.

Plans were made to fly out to Korea—Nayeon would be joining Jeongyeon and a few other Omega field agents. It was a small group, but that would allow them to infiltrate the Defiant headquarters more easily. Their plan? Cause a distraction, create chaos, and slip Mina out in the middle of it all.

“A distraction, okay. But what’s big enough to throw all of the Defiant into turmoil?” Nayeon asked on the plane ride over. The five assassins were on a private jet, not much different from the one Nayeon and Mina had originally flown on shortly after they left Korea.

“Ask yourself, what’s one thing that humans have yet to learn how to truly control?”

Nayeon wasn’t in the mood for riddles, so she simply narrowed her eyes at Jeongyeon.

“Fire.”

They were going to unleash literal hell on the Defiant.

  
  
  


It had been a little over one month. Mina had began making scratches on the floor with the plastic forks that arrived with each meal. She hadn’t completely lost her mind...yet. Having little to no interaction with others and not receiving any natural sunlight had begun to make her feel sick. She had no idea how she could last years like this.

She’d had a visitor once—it was Tzuyu, of all people. Tzuyu had managed to convince the guards outside of something to let her through. The girl was clever and quick thinking—which is why she did well out in the field despite being so young. The metal door, which Mina had desperately tried to open a few times already, slowly swung forward, causing Mina to jump onto her feet. Tzuyu stepped inside and the door quickly shut behind her.

The two girls stood for a moment, looking at each other without a word.

Then Tzuyu began crying. It was a silent cry, where her face began to scrunch up slightly, and Mina knew it was coming before any tears managed to spill from the girl’s eyes.

Quickly rushing to hug the girl, Mina wrapped her arms around Tzuyu. She softly rubbed the girl’s back as Tzuyu leaned down against Mina’s shoulder. Mina didn’t have to ask why Tzuyu was crying—perhaps it was the stress of everything, the burden of the terrible things they were forced to live with, or even Mina’s current predicament.

Thinking about the weight of everything that had happened in her life, Mina let herself cry too. It was desperately needed—after all, she’d been trained to think that crying was a show of weakness. The only time she could cry was when she was alone—which was rare as a Defiant assassin—or at night, silently.

After a few minutes of simply holding each other, Tzuyu let go and quickly wiped her eyes. “You left me,” she stated, with a hint of betrayal laced in her voice. “You left us both.”

The words stung. There was no way for Mina to defend herself—she had kept her own best interests at heart when she chose to fade into the Organization. She’d always live with the guilt of turning away from her family, but especially her friends in the Defiant who knew her for who she actually was, instead of a stone-cold, well-oiled machine.

She’d run away for herself and herself only. Mina wasn’t perfect, after all.

“I’m sorry,” Mina replied softly. Sincerity dripped throughout her voice. “I saw my way out and I took it. I thought Jihyo would take care of you if you needed help.”

“I don’t need anyone to take care of me, not anymore,” Tzuyu stated a bit coldly. Mina knew that wasn’t true, but said nothing.

“You’re stronger than me, Tzuyu,” Mina stated, giving the girl’s shoulders a squeeze. “You and Jihyo both. You always have been.”

Tzuyu clenched her jaw and looked away from Mina’s caring eyes. “You’re right,” she said—voice laced with bitterness. “That’s why you ended up here. You’re weak.”

The younger girl really knew how to make her words dig in. Mina bit her tongue and released Tzuyu’s shoulders, letting her arms fall back down to her sides.

“Maybe I am weak,” Mina whispered. “But here, whatever this is...whatever you are when you’re working for the Defiant...is not strong.” Mina crossed her arms and shifted her weight back on her heels. “There’s more to this life than blind loyalty and survival. I hope some day you’ll figure that out like I did.”

Tzuyu made a face as if she were going to cry again—that crack in her cold exterior shining threw. Mina knew that Tzuyu was saying things she didn’t mean; it was just the anger talking. She hoped dearly that some day the girl would forgive her for leaving this place in search of a better life.

“If you couldn’t escape, there’s no hope for me either.” With that, Tzuyu bowed slightly and took her leave, locking Mina in the cell again.

Mina had first met Tzuyu at a family gathering—they had both been young then, probably around 8 and 5. Mina’s parents had introduced her to little Tzuyu and asked if she could watch over the girl while the adults were talking. The thought of babysitting annoyed Mina, but she didn’t put up a fuss to her parents. Surprisingly, Tzuyu was extremely well behaved and simply enjoyed following Mina around like a shadow. She was quiet and polite, and had a very bright smile. Jihyo especially found the younger girl to be adorable, pinching the girl’s cheeks even after Tzuyu complained and attempted to push her away. The three girls, all daughters of different founding families, became inseparable. Every meeting they had to attend, they would find each other like magnets.

Right away, Mina could see Tzuyu was more like her than like Jihyo. She saw herself in Tzuyu’s reservation and sensitivity. Tzuyu’s training was approaching, and Mina knew the girl would struggle as she did, only she wouldn’t have someone like Jihyo to help get her through it.

Jihyo and Mina tried their best to help Tzuyu adapt to the savage lifestyle of the Defiant—comforting her when she had to fight her own classmates, wrapping her into an engulfing hug after she was forced to make her first kill. However, they were often called away on missions while Tzuyu was still training, so they began to see her less and less.

Each time Mina was back at the headquarters, she observed a change in Tzuyu. The girl grew noticeably colder—and handled her training more easily. However, whenever Mina or Jihyo were alone with the younger girl, the real Tzuyu would begin to emerge in glimpses. She was still there, but was buried deeper and deeper beneath the persona that Tzuyu had to adopt in order to survive her time as a Defiant assassin.

It made Mina incredibly sad. She knew there was nothing she could do about it, either. Her, Tzuyu and Jihyo were all victims of the system.

There had been a time when Mina had loved Tzuyu very much. She still did of course, but as the Tzuyu she once knew seemed to hide deeper inside herself, Mina found that love being buried with it. She knew that at the time the two of them could never be together anyway—after all, a relationship would only distract them both. It was a foolish thing, to have a crush. And so, Mina let it go.

  
  
  


“We get in and light the place up,” Jeongyeon announced. They were riding by car close enough to the headquarters so that they could get out and walk. They were planning on sabotaging a car entering the premise and entering through the gates that way.

“We’ve done some surveillance with our drones, we’ve mapped out where Myoui Mina is being held along with other notable parts of the property,” one of the other agents said. He pulled out a 3D hologram of the headquarters, which displayed in the air around them. “She’s at the far edge of the area, locked in a cell. We counted 5 guards around the perimeter. They’ll no doubt be highly skilled, but the rescue team hoped the fire would draw some away from their post, or at least distract them for a moment.

Their drone had captured an image of a badge that was scanned to get inside. That, wearing the signature Defiant garb, they hoped they could get past the front gate and head directly to the Barrens were Mina was being held. On the way, they’d light a fire at the center building of the facility—one that would blaze and do a lot of damage.

“We get in and get out—we’ll take the entire place down later once we get all the intel we need from Myoui on their other locations and big wigs. There’s no time for snooping or falling out of line. If we take too long, we’ll be surrounded and have no chance of making it out,” Jeongyeon said.

“They’re not expecting anyone to take them head on, so I believe we have the advantage,” one of the other assassins replied.

“I’m getting to Mina one way or another,” Nayeon shrugged. “I won’t let anything stop me.”

“You’re going to do exactly as I tell you, understand?” Jeongyeon demanded, giving Nayeon a warning look.

Nayeon stuck up her hands in a show of innocence but gave Jeongyeon a sly grin. “Of course, whatever you say.” She truly wouldn’t go against Jeongyeon’s word, unless Jeongyeon was blocking her from getting at what she was after. And since they were both after the same thing, in theory, there shouldn’t be any complications. In theory.

Each donning their own Defiant masks and cloaks, they managed to sabotage a car before it reached the headquarters and took out all of the Defiant assassins inside—all it took was a remote Jeongyeon had in her hands which somehow stalled the car’s engine. The headlights of the car went out as the engine sputtered, and Nayeon and the other assassins made their move. There was some resistance that was quickly silenced—the Defiant assassins were not expecting to be attacked so close to their headquarters.

After the four people in the truck were dealt with, each person on the team dragged the bodies away so that they were hidden from view from any people who would be driving down the road later. They grabbed each person’s various badges which would allow them entrance inside the facility, before hopping in the truck and driving forward. One of the men on the team took the wheel, lurching the car forward until they made it to the front gate of the Defiant community.

Flashing a guard their badge, it was scanned and given the okay. They made it in, just like that. Nayeon wondered why it had been so easy, but then realized that not many people would want to break into a community full of assassins in the first place...

Since it was dark out, it was a bit hard to navigate after parking the car in a lot, but the group moved toward their destinations as preplanned on the map of the layout they had studied.

Nayeon and Jeongyeon were to wait by the Barrens were Mina was being held as the others started the fire—lighting up the Defiant. The first flame would be their cue to take down the guards outside of the jail and break Mina out. Luckily the darkness would give them a nice cover, although paths from building to building were clearly lit by streetlights.

After a few minutes of hanging close to the small building that served as the Barrens, Jeongyeon saw the first sign of fire and gave Nayeon a nod. The two girls moved closer, waiting for the guards to notice the flames as well.

“Is that, smoke?” Nayeon heard a guard ask. It was a low, feminine voice that was muffled by the mask covering the woman’s face.

The other guard sniffed loudly, furrowing his brow. “I think so. I’m sure the others will put it out quickly.”

The two guards watched in anticipation, waiting for the fire to go out, but the flames only increased in size and brightness. “Should we help? Why has the fire not been put out yet? What even started—”

Jeongyeon took the two guards down with a silencer, silencing them for good. They fell forward onto the slightly damp grass. “Let’s go,” she commanded. Nayeon and her moved forward to the door of the Barrens.

There were three more guards to take out, but Nayeon and Jeongyeon saw them running for the fire—they were clearly not worried about any prisoners inside the building when there was a risk of their people dying in the engulfing flames that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Jeongyeon and Nayeon slipped inside, walking down a large, industrial looking hallway. There were a few doors on either side with no windows, only small slits which were all closed—Nayeon assumed they were for feeding the prisoners. The thought of Mina rotting inside one of these cells made Nayeon’s stomach twist in anger.

“Mina!” Nayeon shouted, hoping the girl might be able to hear her through the thick, metal doors. There was no response though. “We’ll have to open up each door then,” Nayeon replied to Jeongyeon. “She’s here somewhere.”

Jeongyeon approached a door and ran her fingers lightly along the intricate looking lock system. “These doors require a passcode to open them—six digits.”

“We don’t have time for this!” Nayeon yelled, being to pace and stop in front of random doors. She threw herself against one, calling Mina’s name.

Jeongyeon reached into a pocket in her jacket, pulling out a circular device with four prongs on it. “Passcodes are no bother to us.” She placed the circular device on top of the nearest keypad, and the thing latched itself onto it—hooking deep into its wiring. After a few seconds and a loud beep, the door gave a satisfying click and inwardly swung open. The room was empty.

“You Omega and your crazy inventions—I would’ve been making calculations about probability and chance while taking a crack at the codes, not using a cheat.”

“It’s not cheating, it’s being prepared,” Jeongyeon teased, placing the device on another keypad.

Another empty room, then another.

Nayeon felt like pulling her hair out in impatience.

Finally, they came upon the last room, and the door gave way with a wrathful creak.

“Mina—AH!” Nayeon was cut off as the girl in the cell threw a hard punch, with Nayeon barely avoiding it. That was Mina alright, prepared to strike at the first sign of intrusion. “Hey! It’s me!” Nayeon huffed out as Mina swung back her leg to strike Nayeon again.

Mina froze mid kick, widening her eyes and getting a good look at the woman in front of her for the first time. She put her foot down and blinked a few times, letting her surprise linger for a few moments. “You’re not dead?”

“It’s nice to see you, too,” Nayeon quipped, catching her breath but smiling regardless. The Defiant mask was covering up her mouth, but Mina could tell the girl was smiling based on the way her eyes crinkled up from the stretch of her cheeks.

Mina threw herself at Nayeon, wrapping her arms around the girl and instantly beginning to sob.

“Oh geeze,” Nayeon murmured, stroking the girls hair. “You’re soaking this Defiant cloak with your tears.” But as soon as she said that, Nayeon was crying, too. Once Mina finally let her go, their eyes were both red rimmed and their cheeks were puffy.

“Didn’t Jihyo kill you?” Mina asked, quickly wiping away her tears.

Nayeon flipped her hair over her left shoulder, trying to look cool and collected once again. She pulled down the ridiculous Defiant mask and took in a big breath of fresh air. “She tried to, but she has shitty aim.”

Mina raised an eyebrow. “Jihyo’s the best shooter here. If she didn’t kill you on the spot, it was on purpose…” Her voice trailed off in thought.

The two girls looked at each other in understanding.

“We’ll discuss that later, for now we have to get you out of here!”

“We?” Mina asked, suddenly looking at the girl who was standing in the doorway, somewhat awkwardly.

“The Omega. They helped me find you,” Nayeon admitted.

“We need to go, now. Let’s save the explanations for the car ride,” the girl commented. She gave Nayeon a look.

Nayeon hooked her arm through Mina’s, because she looked very skeptical, and tugged her along.

“But Jihyo,” Mina said suddenly. “And Tzuyu…I can’t leave them again.”

“Our extraction orders are for you alone,” the blonde girl told Mina.

“You’re planning to take down the Defiant, aren’t you?” Mina asked, ripping her arm from Nayeon’s grasp while pulling backwards. “And you want me to help you. That means you’ll take out all the founding families.”

Jeongyeon remained silent, slightly surprised that Mina had guessed what was going on so easily. Did that mean the other Defiant members would know what Mina’s disappearance meant too?

“Jihyo and Tzuyu, my friends, they’re part of the founding families,” Mina explained. “Let me at least warn them so they know to leave before you eradicate them.”

“What are we supposed to do in the meantime, sit here and wait for you?” Jeongyeon demanded, growing more impatient by the second. “Our orders are clear. Get Myoui Mina out, that’s it. The more time we waste the more we put ourselves in jeopardy. It’s only a matter of time before your people find out we’re here!”

Nayeon knew Jeongyeon was right. She didn’t exactly trust Jihyo either. After all, the girl had shot and almost killed her, and taken Mina away from her. This Tzuyu person Mina mentioned was a name Nayeon had never heard before, although she had her suspicions as to where she fit into Mina’s life. Though Mina rarely spoke about her past, she had mentioned a friend of hers inside the operation—someone she had mentored.

“Mina, she’s right. I’m sorry but, you need to think of yourself. This is your only chance to get out of here. Then we can be alone again, just the two of us. You’ll be free of this place, for good. There’s always the Organization to worry about, but we can handle them.”

Mina looked incredibly torn—how could she offer up information to a rival group that would put her friends in jeopardy without being able to warn them? Despite Jihyo forcefully bringing her back to her parents, she knew that deep down Jihyo believed it was what was best for her. Tzuyu was just like Mina—an innocent who got dragged into the family business without a say in the matter. Neither one deserved to be taken down for ideals they didn’t really believe in.

The Defiant assassins, they were well oiled machines, nothing more. But some of them, deep down underneath the layers of abuse and brainwashing, had some semblance of humanity left. She knew Jihyo and Tzuyu were two of those people.

“Mina?” a voice called from outside, sounding slightly panicked. Suddenly Jihyo appeared in the doorway of the cell with wide eyes. A gun was drawn from her holster as soon as she noticed more than one person in Mina’s cell.

Jeongyeon had her gun aimed as well, pointed directly at Jihyo.

“Jihyo,” Mina replied, putting her hands up in a show of innocence. “You can put the gun down.”

Aiming the gun from Nayeon to Jeongyeon, Jihyo’s panicked expression darkened. “I came to make sure the fire didn’t spread here, but imagine my surprise when I saw two guards, dead.”

“We’re taking Mina back now,” Nayeon stated, growing noticeably anxious that Jihyo was pointing a gun at her again. It didn’t go so well the last time…

Mina stepped forward slowly, arms outstretched. Jeongyeon sighed but lowered her gun, keeping it at her side just in case she’d need to shoot someone later.

One foot in front of the other, Mina moved until she had Jihyo’s guns in her hands and pointed it down at the ground. “They came to break me out, Jihyo.”

“You know if you leave now I’ll just have orders to find you again, but this time they’ll have me kill you. Mina, please don’t make me do that,” Jihyo begged. She clicked on the gun’s safety and slipped it back into her holster. “If you just wait here a few more months, I’m sure you’ll be able to integrated into our society again. It’ll take time for them to trust you but they will—”

“There won’t be anyone left to give you orders. The Defiant, they means everything to you, don’t they?” Mina asked softly.

Jihyo hesitated, seeing the urgency in Mina’s expression. “I...yes. The Defiant is all I know.” But underneath those words, Mina could sense doubt. That was all she needed. Mina wrapped her arms around the older girl, pulling her into a tight hug.

Jihyo was stiff at first underneath the girl’s touch, but quickly softened and leaned against the girl. “Take Tzuyu and leave. Run far, far away. Run until there’s nothing left to come back to.”

Feeling shocked by Mina’s words, Jihyo pulled back and looked at the girl’s sad eyes. “What—?”

“Do you trust me?”

Jihyo didn’t hesitate. “Yes,” she breathed out.

“Take her tonight, before either of you get sent out on another mission. I know you two will be good at disappearing. You’re not under the same suspicions I am. You can hold out until the storm is clear. Then you’ll be free.” Tears were beginning to form in Mina’s eyes again. “Maybe I’ll even see you both again some day.”

Wrapping her hand around Mina’s wrist rather forcefully, Jihyo shook her head. “Mina, you can’t leave us again.”

Ignoring the statement, Mina looked away, even though her heart was tearing in half. “Jihyo, you’re so much more than what the Defiant made of you. Remember that. Now go. Prepare. Please.”

Jihyo wanted Mina to elaborate, but something about her desperate expression told Jihyo she wouldn’t be getting any answers. All she knew is that once she left the room Mina would be gone.

“Will you be safe?” Jihyo asked. She looked at the blonde-haired girl beside Nayeon uneasily, as she’d never seen the girl’s face before.

Mina nodded. “I’ll be able to take care of myself, thanks to you.”

When Mina was only 7 years old, she had started training seriously to become a ranking member of the Defiant. Grouped with a few other children her age, the children were trained in archery, gunmanship, stealth and even acting. Failure was met with physical punishment, usually in the form of a slap or shove to the ground. Even worse, sometimes it meant getting no food for an entire day. Mina’s naturally competitive nature helped her to successfully complete each course of training, until the children were paired off and meant to fight each other.

But how could Mina strike a friend? Her best friend, of all things? The other child of a founding family. Jihyo could sense Mina’s discomfort, but knew if Mina didn’t fight something terrible would happen to her. At first, Jihyo tried to rile the girl up, yelling out childish insults. Mina didn’t react though, and instead stood with her head down, tears welling up in her eyes.

Jihyo ran to her friend, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Hit me. Just like in training, remember? Punch me hard. Make me fall down, okay? You can do this.”

“I can’t,” Mina cried. “Why do we have to do this?” The girl was shaking beneath Jihyo’s fingers.

“You can’t question orders. Always do as you are told,” Jihyo repeated the mantra they were forced to repeat daily. “I won’t hurt you, I promise. Now, hit me!” Jihyo shoved the girl backwards a bit roughly, trying to shake her from her horrified haze.

Mina looked up at Jihyo with wide eyes, and Jihyo could see a clarity returning to them. Knowing Jihyo was right—she couldn’t question orders, after all—Mina’s gaze turned serious and wolf-like. She shuffled toward Jihyo, ready to strike.

Jihyo made it seem like she was attempting to deflect Mina’s blows, but both girls knew Jihyo was fighting as if both hands were tied behind her back. Each kick and punch became slightly easier for Mina to deal out, despite seeing Jihyo grit her teeth in pain.

It was like ejecting herself from her own body, watching from a distance as her body went into autopilot—becoming a vessel containing all the training she had retrieved and nothing more. And in that moment, Jihyo became nothing more than a faceless obstacle standing in Mina’s way.

Pinning Jihyo to the ground, Mina breathed heavily, and the adults standing around the girls signaled that the match had ended. Mina stood up, staring down at Jihyo on the ground near her feet. The girl looked bruised and bloodied, but didn’t cry. A trainer of theirs strode over to Jihyo and picked her up roughly by her arm. “Pathetic,” he muttered, staring at the girl in disappointment. “If this was on a mission, you wouldn’t be spared. You would be dead now.”

He let go of Jihyo, who managed to catch herself before falling down again. The trainers dispersed, moving onto the next match between two more trainees. The horror of what Mina had done finally began to sink in, and she could feel tears welling up in her eyes again. Jihyo, despite everything, managed to give Mina a slightly bloodied smile.

In the present, Jihyo nodded, knowing Mina would be okay if she could manage to get past the layers of security surrounding their headquarters.

There were three words rising up from Jihyo’s throat, but they got stuck on the tip of their tongue, tasting unbearably bittersweet. She let the words stay unsaid, echoing in her mind instead. They’d only cause pain anyway, and besides, Jihyo knew Mina could not say them back. Mina’s heart belonged to a girl whose life Jihyo had left up to chance—and it seemed fate was on Nayeon’s side.

Instead, Jihyo swallowed roughly and managed to give Mina a tight-lipped smile. “Take care,” she whispered, leaning forward and lightly placing a kiss on Mina’s forehead.

“Thank you for not shooting me in the head or in the heart,” Nayeon said to Jihyo as the girl opened her eyes. “And here I thought this whole time you just had terrible aim.”

“I couldn’t bring myself to kill the girl Mina loves,” Jihyo admitted. “Besides, I couldn’t fault you for falling in love with her either.” After all, I’ve fallen for her too.

She released Mina’s wrist and turned away, walking out the door and leaving the three girls alone once again.

Mina closed her eyes and took a breath—preventing any onslaught of tears threatening to storm. “Alright, let’s go.”

They had a much easier time leaving the Defiant headquarters than they did entering it. They handed Mina a Defiant cloak and mask—they each had to wear the outfit to get through the rest of the property without drawing attention.

“Get one last good look at this place,” Nayeon murmured to Mina. “The fire might be almost out, but it’s only a matter of time before it’s all up in flames.”

Mina didn’t need to look around—she knew every inch of the property from wandering around it so many times—but she turned back and looked anyway. It was a bittersweet goodbye, minus the sweet. There had been nothing pleasant about her childhood, other than her dog and a few kind faces. Satisfied, she turned away and strode after Nayeon and Jeongyeon.

  
  
  


“It’s such a relief you came with us willingly, Miss Myoui,” Jeongyeon replied as they drove another car located on Defiant property past the front gate and the frazzled guards who were still stressed about the raging fire. “I had a feeling Nayeon would be enough to convince you, but we did have some back-up measures prepared just in case.”

“What are you saying?” Nayeon asked, eying Jeongyeon suspiciously. The light in the car was limited, casting shadows on all of their faces.

“I’m just warning you, trying to escape at any point before we make it back to the Omega headquarters would be foolish. Neither one of you are fools now, are you?” The air in the car shifted to something tense and almost sinister.

Nayeon pressed her lips together and shook her head. She had already tried to scope out a way that her and Mina could escape from the Omega’s grasp, and Jeongyeon must have noticed her shifty eyes. Then a light bulb went off above Nayeon’s head, and the girl placed a hand on her abdomen. “You said a back-up measure. What did you do?”

Jeongyeon smiled slightly, as if she thought Nayeon would never ask. “During your surgery, we implanted a small device in your abdomen that will expel a large electric shock to your body. It will be quite painful for you, I’m afraid, if I ever have to use it.”

Nayeon lunged forward at Jeongyeon—face warped into pure rage—but Mina quickly grabbed Nayeon’s arm and held the girl back.

“We’ll remove it of course, once you make it back to our headquarters safely and Mina gives us all the information we need,” Jeongyeon stated. Her face was expressionless—the look of a cold-blooded assassin.

“You son of a—AHHHH,” Nayeon fell backward against the car seat—writhing in pain. Jeongyeon’s hand, which had been in her pocket, was now in front of her with a small, black remote in it.

“STOP IT!” Mina yelled, placing her hands on both of Nayeon’s shoulders in an attempt to hold her steady so she didn’t hurt herself. Mina quickly found electricity jolting up her own fingers, so she threw her hands back and cried out.

Jeongyeon’s finger lifted off the remote and Nayeon stopped shaking. It took Nayeon a moment to recover before she was able to speak again. “Finally exposing your true colors,” she snarled. “I knew it was only a matter of time. I just wasn’t expecting...this.”

“I know you’re already looking for your means of escape. This was just...insurance. We had a deal, I’m just making sure you follow through to the end,” Jeongyeon stated nonchalantly.

Mina reached over and grabbed Nayeon’s hand, giving her a calming look. “It’ll be okay,” she assured. Her voice was melodic and steady. Nayeon’s breath hitched, realizing how much she had missed hearing it.

So they’d cooperate until Nayeon got the device removed from her body, but after that, anything could happen. She stared Jeongyeon down, full well knowing to expect more betrayals when they arrived back at the Omega headquarters.

They drove for about an hour before they stopped and switched into another unregistered vehicle. Without a word, two of the Omega agents opened the car doors with blindfolds in hand. “We need to put these on you to keep the location of our headquarters a secret,” one of the men explained. Mina complied wordlessly, letting herself be blindfolded, while Nayeon gave Jeongyeon a dirty look, causing Jeongyeon to put her finger dangerously near the button of the small remote she held. It was if she was daring Nayeon to disobey.

Nayeon sighed and complied. “Maybe I can finally get some shut eye then,” she muttered as her world went dark. She snaked her hand around until she found Mina’s own hand and intertwined their fingers. She fell asleep leaning against Mina’s shoulder, trying her best to ignore the growing unease boiling in her stomach. The thought of not being in control of the situation was driving Nayeon insane.

About an hour passed before Nayeon was gently shaken awake. She could tell it was Mina’s slender fingers lightly pressing against her face and shoulder. “We’ll guide you to the building and as soon as we’re inside we’ll take off the blindfolds,” Jeongyeon announced.

Nayeon and Mina were shuffled blindly out of the car and onto some sort of asphalt. Stumbling forward, trying not to fall, Nayeon was scowling.

Before they knew it, their blindfolds were pulled off and they could see where they were for the first time in hours—a dimly lit room void of anything else besides two chairs, which they were firmly forced down onto, and a single light hanging from the ceiling. There was a woman standing with her back to Nayeon and Mina, dressed in all black. In her hand, Nayeon could clearly see the remote Jeongyeon had been holding earlier—the one linked to the electrical device surgically inserted into her abdomen.

Once the door to the room closed, leaving just Jeongyeon in the room with them and the woman standing in front of them, Nayeon leaned back in her seat and sighed. “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”

The woman standing in front of them whipped around—letting her nearly jet black hair twirl with her. “We shall,” she replied. Staring Nayeon and Mina down, eyes lingering on Mina, the girl gave a fox-like grin. “Miss Myoui, I have a few questions for you.”

“I’m prepared to answer them, every one,” Mina said, looking back at the interrogator levelly. “There’ll be no use for that.” She nodded toward the remote the woman was holding in her hand.

“That’s a shame, I really wanted to push this button,” the woman pouted, but her expression quickly bounced back into an amused grin. “We have agents listening in on this conversation, recording down everything you’re saying. We need the location to all of the Defiant headquarters all over their world—their coordinates if you have them memorized. That’d make things easier for us. Any security precautions they may take at each location. We want to know the names of all the founding families and where they live. We want to know more about the training process for new recruits, and where it is you draw new people from.”

The woman took a breath, letting her mouth fall back into a lazy grin. “Tell us everything you know—anything you think might be useful to taking down the Defiant—and we’ll take the device out of your girlfriend and send you both on your way.”

“Just like that?” Mina asked, narrowing her eyes in skepticism.

The woman took a few steps closer to Mina, walking around the chair Mina was seated in, and running her hand along the back of the chair slowly. Beside Mina, Nayeon gave the woman a scowl—she did not like the way the woman was sizing Mina up. “Just like that,” the woman purred.

Mina curled her fingers into her palms, letting her nails dig into her skin ever so slightly. Thinking of Jihyo and Tzuyu, she took a breath. “There are four locations in South Korea…”

  
  


During the interrogation, the interrogator had a habit of not being able to stand still. She paced, all the while smiling and looking at Mina and Nayeon with almost devilish eyes. In her years in the Organization, Nayeon had come across a few other assassins who carried the same, almost predator-like gaze, but they were a rare breed—people who genuinely enjoyed their jobs there. This woman was clearly enjoying prying the information out of Mina, even though she didn’t really have to try. With Nayeon in danger, Mina didn’t think twice before expelling the classified information.

This is exactly why, Nayeon realized, that relationships were banned for any member of the Organization. Thank god she was out of there.

“That’s all we need,” the woman replied after Mina had finished listing off the names of all the founding families and where they were located. “We’re done with you now.” Checking her fingernails, looking slightly bored, the woman sighed and nodded to Jeongyeon to take them outside.

Jeongyeon nodded and pulled Mina and Nayeon both up to their feet—their hands were both bound, so they didn’t put up a fight.

“I hope our paths don’t cross again, for both of your sakes,” the woman called after them as they were shuffled out of the interrogation. She gave Mina a wink before the door closed—and that was the last either Nayeon or Mina saw of her.

“Alright Jeongyeon,” Nayeon replied, becoming very impatient. “Are you taking this thing out of me, or what?”

“Again, patience is certainly not an Organization virtue,” Jeongyeon tisked, but she nodded and led the girls toward what appeared to be an operating room.

Jeongyeon opened up the door to the small room and Nayeon and Mina stepped inside. There was a large operating table, a bright light overhead, and a monitor mounted in the corner of the room. “We’ll have to put her under for the procedure but it should be fairly quick.”

“You don’t need to knock me out, just numb the area, give me a little alcohol and I’ll be fine,” Nayeon insisted. “I just wanna get out of here.”

Mina rolled her eyes and shook her head. She turned to Jeongyeon, looking quite earnest. “I’d like to stay with her for the procedure, please.”

Jeongyeon looked between Nayeon and Mina before nodding. “I’ll arrange that. For now, Nayeon, lie down and I’ll get the surgeon so we can begin the process.”

Nayeon sighed loudly but after a gentle push from Mina, the older girl compiled and sat down on the operating table.

Jeongyeon disappeared but locked the door after her, leaving Nayeon and Mina alone for the first time since they’d been reunited.

“You’re an idiot, you know that, right?” Mina stated, scruffing her sneakers against the floor.

“Oh, how I’ve missed your sweet talk,” Nayeon said, giving Mina a charming smile.

Mina couldn’t help but crack a smile too. “You should have never come back with me. Making an alliance with them—”

“Didn’t really have much of a choice,” Nayeon shrugged. “They’re the ones who saved me and told me they needed my help getting you back. I guess they only needed me for this reason,” she pointed to her abdomen where she guessed the electrical device had been inserted. “And here I thought they were just counting on your love for me to get you to come back with them.”

“My love for you?” Mina raised an eyebrow. “I don’t recall ever telling you I love you.”

“You never had to,” Nayeon explained—eyes suddenly softening and filling with something like adoration. “Mina, I—”

The door opened and a surgeon and a nurse entered the room, followed by Jeongyeon.

“We’re going to begin now,” the man announced with authority beneath his surgical mask. He instructed Mina to stand aside as Nayeon was put out with a small dosage of anesthetics. Mina gave Nayeon’s hand a slight squeeze before the nurse strapped the air mask onto Nayeon. Mina watched carefully as the surgeon performed the removal—wincing slightly when a scalpel was used to slice neatly into Nayeon’s body.

The electric device was removed with a pair of tweezers and set aside. Once the surgeon stitched Nayeon back up, Mina leaned back against the wall in relief.

“She’ll wake up in about a half an hour or so,” The surgeon told Mina. “She needs to take it easy so she doesn’t tear her stitches.”

Mina nodded and thanked the surgeon before he disappeared out of the room.

“We’ve arranged a driver to take you to the destination of your choice. We’ll have you blindfolded until you get a considerable distance away, and then you’re on your own,” Jeongyeon stated.

Mina nodded, looking back at a now sleeping Nayeon, who looked almost peaceful under the harsh, fluorescent light above her.

“It’s quite fascinating to me, how much the two of you care for one another,” Jeongyeon admitted, noticing Mina’s intense gaze on Nayeon, “when you’re both nothing more than two people bred to be cold-blooded killers.”

“It’s a funny thing,” Mina responded, not taking her eyes off of Nayeon, “what a bit of love can do to two still-beating hearts.”

  
  


Nayeon awoke to the harsh light of the operating room, squinting and darting her eyes around to get a barring of her surroundings. She saw Mina’s face hovering above her own and immediately relaxed.

“You ready to go?” Nayeon asked, as if she hadn’t been the one laying unconscious on the operating table only a minute ago. Mina nodded and smiled softly at the girl, gently placing her hands on Nayeon’s shoulders and helping the girl sit up slowly.

“Take things easy, okay?” Mina pleaded. “We don’t want you rupturing your stitches.”

Nayeon hated feeling limited again for the second time over the course of the past few months, but she didn’t argue. Mina helped the girl to her feet, and guided her to the door where Jeongyeon was waiting. Nayeon took each step carefully, so as not to stretch the skin across her upper abdomen.

Upon entering the hallway, two men approached the girls with blindfolds and wrist restraints. Nayeon quickly looked back at Jeongyeon before the black fabric shrouded her eyes. “Thank you,” she murmured. “For helping me get Mina back.”

Jeongyeon simply nodded with the smallest smile upon her lips before Nayeon’s vision was covered in darkness. Mina and Nayeon were escorted out of the facility and into a car.

“Where to?” Nayeon asked Mina, sitting besides her in the backseat of the new-smelling car. She hadn’t thought this far ahead—as to what she’d actually do if she found Mina. She felt a bit foolish.

“Busan. I have another safe house there. Once the Defiant are taken down, then we should leave Korea for good.”

Nayeon reached to her left in the darkness, feeling the cool, leather car seat until her fingers bumped Mina’s leg. It was only a matter of seconds before Mina’s hand found her own. The restraints prevented them from holding hands but their pinkies were touching, and that was enough.

“Busan, please,” Mina leaned forward and stated firmly to the driver. There was a grunt and the car lurched forward.

Nayeon couldn’t truly believe they’d walk out of the Omega facility so easily, and yet here they were, driving away. Sure, their hands were bound and their eyes covered, but both girls felt a sense of relief. After all, they knew nothing about the Omega, therefore they weren’t a liability. Sure, Mina could run back to the Defiant and share the Omega’s plans, but that would be suicide. She’d be executed at the hands of her own people for treason. There was still the Organization as well, lurking and waiting—but Nayeon had a feeling with the Defiant falling, they’d have bigger problems on their hands.

The only choice was to run as they had been doing—to run and never look back. But they had each other, and that was the most reassuring feeling of all.

“Where do you want to go after all this? Pick anywhere in the world,” Mina whispered.

Nayeon smirked slightly at the prospect of becoming a world traveler with Mina. “I’ve only been to Europe once, but I’d like to go back. How about France?”

“France it is,” Mina responded, unbeknownst to Nayeon, smiling from ear to ear.

“Mina, you made the right decision,” Nayeon whispered—the proximity of Nayeon’s lips to Mina’s ear made Mina’s skin crawl in the pleasant sort of way. “I know you care about your friends there, but no more kids will have to go through what you went through growing up.”

“There’s still the Organization and the Omega, but I suppose they don’t normally train assassins from quite as young of a age,” Mina responded quietly. Despite hating the Defiant, her stomach still felt twisted with betrayal. She couldn’t quite shake the loyalness they’d drilled into her head since birth. But, none of that would matter anymore. With the Defiant eradicated, she could finally be free once and for all.

They drove for what seemed like hours—Nayeon had begun to lose track of time, feeling sleepy but forcing herself to remain and alert. There was nothing but the sound of the truck engine whirring melodically, and occasionally a cough from Mina or the sound of other cars passing by on the road.

Finally the car came to a halt. Nayeon tensed up immediately, being ready to kick and claw if she had to. The back door to the truck opened on Mina’s side, and the rough voice of the driver nearly startled Mina and Nayeon both.

“I’m going to unblindfold you both now and remove your restraints, we’ve reached Busan.”

Mina sighed with relief, scooching toward the edge of the backseat and allowing the driver to pull off her blindfold and then unlock her restraints. The sunlight from the early morning made Mina squint her eyes as she scanned the surrounding area outside—yes, this was truly Busan. She’d have the driver drop them off a few blocks away from the safe house so they could walk there.

When the driver unlocked Nayeon’s restraints, the girl moaned in relief and began to rub her slightly raw wrists. “Are we almost there?” she asked Mina. Mina nodded and whispered the address to the driver.

It was only a few miles away before the driver pulled over, signaling for the girls to hop out. They both slid out on Nayeon’s side, reaching the busy street sidewalk. Surrounded by normal people, bustling through their normal lives, Nayeon found relief.

Mina began to lead the way, searching for the unsuspecting door which led to the stairwell to her safehouse. Before she could get too far ahead of Nayeon though, the older girl gently grabbed Mina’s arm, tugging the girl back toward her. Their bodies collided a bit awkwardly, with their faces suddenly only inches apart. Nayeon let out a bit of a nervous chuckle, seeing blush forming on Mina’s cheeks.

“Don’t tell me you suddenly got shy,” Nayeon replied, giving the girl a slightly smug smile. Mina stepped backward and glanced back at Nayeon’s sparkling eyes.

“I missed you,” Mina said. “I thought you were gone—I thought the last thing I said to you was something as trivial as being careful going out to get wine. We were so stupid, letting our guard down for just that moment. We thought we were invincible and—“

Nayeon kissed her then, grabbing a handful of Mina’s slightly knotty hair and pulling their heads together. Their lips collided like it was destiny, and maybe it was.

"I love you, Mina," Nayeon whispered after pulling away from Mina to take a breath.

"After all this, I wouldn't expect anything less," Mina replied, cracking a smile. "I love you, too."

Despite being out in public, their bodies were pressed together again. Normally Mina would be uncomfortable with the PDA, but she wasn’t quite thinking straight—Nayeon had that effect on her. A few people gave them interested looks or sidelong glances as they passed by, but neither of the two girls cared. In that moment they weren’t two assassins—the stars of a forbidden love story—but just two people in love.

Maybe they’d be found eventually, gunned down in the middle of the night, terminated, or maybe they would live out their lives together happily. None of that seemed to matter in that moment.

They broke apart, both sharing shy grins. Nayeon took Mina’s left hand in her own, swinging it excitedly as she began to skip down the sidewalk. “I hope your safehouse has a really nice king sized bed,” she said, “cause we’re going to be using the hell out of it tonight.”

____________________________________


End file.
